Revised prices of 50 more drugs soon

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority is expected to announce the revised price of 50 more drugs that are a part of the  national list of essential medicines in the next 10-15 days, said Shambhu Kallolikar, joint secretary (pharmaceuticals), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

The drug price regulator had announced the revised prices of 151 drugs in the first batch and 51 drugs in the second batch earlier this month.

The national list of essential medicines has 348 bulk drugs, which are used in 650 formulations. The new prices are being fixed according to the formula under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a pharma conference here today, Kallolikar said it would take some more time to bring all the identified drugs under price control as it involved a lengthy process.

The new pricing policy is expected to bring down the price of lifesaving drugs by up to 60 per cent in some cases, according to him.