Medical Technology Assessment Board should fix prices of stents: Nathealth

Nathealth represents entire spectrum of healthcare professionals including hospitals, manufacturers

As the fight between multinational stent providers and domestic manufacturers intensifies over stent pricing, the healthcare federation of India Nathealth has proposed that the Medical Technology Assessment Board should be fixing prices based on the efficacy of the stents.

Anjan Bose from the federation told Business Standard, “Let Medical Technology Assessment Board examine stents and set prices based on their efficacy.”

In a recent meeting held by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) with stakeholders, Nathealth had also supported the request of multi-national stent manufacturers that there should be differential pricing.

Nathealth is a body that represents the entire spectrum of healthcare professionals including hospitals and manufacturers.

It has further been argued that the idea of taking the cost of production as the basis for fixing the ceiling price of stents is not advisable. Bose argues that cost of production will vary on the basis of the research cost put in by companies. As the research costs increase, the cost of production too will increase, stakeholders argued at the consultations.

Meeting NPPA officials in the final leg of finalising stent prices, the multi-nationals and the domestic players do not have a consensus on the pricing of various drug eluting stents. 

While the domestic manufacturers claim that the “next-generation” stents aren’t superior to the drug eluting stents marketed by the domestic manufacturers, the multinationals argue that the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved that stents are indeed superior. 

Dr Praveen Chandra, chairman of Cardiology at Medanta and other doctors who attended the consultations with NPPA told Business Standard: "We told NPPA that stents vary in their efficacy. Thus, drug eluting there is a case for pricing based on efficacy." 

Meanwhile, the domestic manufacturers, once again, at the meeting with NPPA, said drug-eluting stents ought to be priced equally. 

The NPPA met stakeholders from January 4-6 before proceeding with the actual process of fixing the prices of stents. The NPPA has to notify the price by February this year. 

In December 2016, the Department of Pharmaceuticals brought stents in the ambit of the Drug Price Control Order 2013. Before this, in July 2016, the government brought stents under the National List of Essential Medicines. 

All stakeholders, Business Standard spoke with, mentioned that the NPPA hasn't indicated what its final decision will be at this point.