Multinational stent companies claim that the ceiling price fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is commercially unviable, but they are selling at far lower prices in much richer countries with smaller markets than India such as Germany, the UK, Italy and many other European countries.
A look at the prices of stent brands in these countries shows that people in India have been defrauded of crores of rupees over years in the absence of any price control or law.
Before price control, patients in India paid among the highest prices for stents globally even higher than in the US. In the US, the price of a drug eluting stent (DES) ranges from Rs 62,000 ($950) to Rs 78,000 ($1,200).
In India, hospitals were charging almost double with DES prices typically ranging from Rs 65,000 to Rs 1.7 lakh.
In the case of the bioabsorbable stents, which have come under a cloud for their safety and efficacy, the US paid about $100 to $200 (Rs 6,500 to Rs 13,000) over the price of the most expensive DES, or roughly $1,200 to $1,500.
In India, patients were charged Rs 1.9 lakh (over $2,900) for Abbot’s bioabsorbable stent.
After price control, Indians are paying over Rs 31,000 for any DES, lower than the price in the US but similar to the price being paid in the UK and other European countries.
This is despite India having a much bigger market for stents than the UK or any of the European countries. In a bigger market, firms make up for smaller margins from higher volumes.
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