In a move that is likely to bring down prices of some of the key medicines, drug pricing regulator NPPA has fixed the price of 108 non-scheduled formulation packs of 50 anti-diabetes and cardiac medicines.
"The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the prices of anti-diabetic & cardiovascular in respect of 108 non-scheduled formulation packs under Paragraph 19 of DPCO, 2013," NPPA said in a notification.
The drugs that will become cheaper would include atorvastatin, gliclazide, glimepiride, heparin and metolazone among others.
Commenting on the judgement, Indian Pharma Alliance's Secretary General D G Shah said the industry body is against invoking Para 19 of DPCO by NPPA for extending price control to non-schedule products.
Paragraph 19 of DPCO, 2013, authorises the NPPA in extraordinary circumstances, if it considers necessary so to do in public interest, to fix the ceiling price or retail price of any drug for such period as it deems fit.
"If NPPA is allowed to pursue this course of action, every drug will be under price control, making National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) redundant," he added.
As per the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, the government currently controls the prices of 652 essential drugs listed in the NLEM.
Commenting on the development, Angel Broking VP Research - Pharma Sarabjit Kour Nangra said: "It is estimated that around Rs 5,500 crore of the pharma market will be impacted, with the range of prices being reduced from 10-15 per cent to as high as 35 per cent, with the average reduction around 12 per cent".
It is a rare invocation of a lesser-used provision in the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), she added.
What makes the development significant is that NPPA has fixed prices of those medicines which are not listed under the national list of essential medicines (NLEM), Nangra said.
"With this list, the total market of cardiac medicines under price control, including the earlier ones, stands at 58 per cent besides 21 per cent of the anti-diabetic market that comes under the purview," she added.
Pharma scrips tank
Shares of pharma firm Sanofi India plunged over 10 per cent today after drug pricing regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixed the price of medicines that are used to treat diabetes and cardiac disorders.
Sanofi India's stock tanked 10.22 per cent to settle at Rs 2,900. In intra-day trade, the scrip plunged 10.99 per cent to Rs 2,875.
At the NSE, the stock settled 10.49 per cent lower at Rs 2,913.
Selling was also seen in other pharma scrips as Cipla lost 0.71 per cent, Dr Reddys Laboratories was down 0.55 per cent and Sun Pharma fell 0.51 per cent.
In a move that is likely to bring down prices of some of the key medicines, drug pricing regulator NPPA has fixed the price of 108 non-scheduled formulation packs of 50 anti-diabetes and cardiac medicines.
"The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the prices of anti-diabetic & cardiovascular in respect of 108 non-scheduled formulation packs under Paragraph 19 of DPCO, 2013," the NPPA said in a notification.
The drugs that will become cheaper would include atorvastatin, gliclazide, glimepiride, heparin and metolazone among others.
Commenting on the development, Angel Broking VP Research - Pharma Sarabjit Kour Nangra said: "It is estimated that around Rs 5,500 crore of the pharma market will be impacted, with the range of prices being reduced from 10-15 per cent to as high as 35 per cent, with the average reduction around 12 per cent."
What makes the development significant is that NPPA has fixed prices of those medicines which are not listed under the national list of essential medicines (NLEM), Nangra said.
The biggest impact will be felt for companies like Sanofi, Zydus Cadila, Ranbaxy, Cipla, Lupin, DRL and Sun Pharma, she claimed.
Nangra further added that amongst the domestic and MNC players, the latter would be impacted the most, as they mostly price their products much higher than the competition and derive 100 per cent of their sales from Indian markets.
