Nearly half of pharma industry may come under price control

Fixed-dose combinations (FDCs), drugs that include two or more therapeutic ingredients, comprise nearly 40 per cent of Indian drug market, say industry bodies that fear the move of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) putting them under price control. The drug pricing authority last month proposed to include FDCs under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013. The proposal has been made to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP).

DPCO 2013 that lists drugs under price control already includes 18 per cent drugs sold in domestic market, as per the industry bodies. It now fears that bringing FDCs in DPCO will put over