 "US Congress to intensify probe on prices against Indian pharma firms")
Congressman Elijah Cummings, who has worked with Senator Bernie Sanders over the issue, will also be part of the hearing slated for this Thursday.
Price rise for generic drugs have also reportedly come under scrutiny by the US Department of Justice. The Congress had also sought Obama administration's intervention in the issue.
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Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's return from the US in October, the US Congress initiated its probe on the increase in prices of 10 generic medicines.
On October 2, the congress wrote to 14 drug firms initiating investigation and seeking details about recent price increases in several generic products available in the US, considered the biggest drug market in the world.
Usually, generic drugs are cheaper than the patented ones, but price rises in the range of 390-8,200 per cent raised eyebrows. The Congress investigation also covers Teva, Mylan, Actavis, Apotex, Endo, Global Pharmaceuticals, Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Lannett Company, Marathon Pharmaceuticals, PAR Pharmaceutical Companies Inc and West-Ward Pharmaceutical Corp.
The probe is being viewed as a first of its kind by industry officials. In fact, the US drug regulator, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been tightening the noose over the quality of generic drugs manufactured by domestic pharma companies in India with series of surprise inspections and import alerts. Several manufacturing plants of domestic firms such as Ranbaxy, Sun Pharma, Wockhardt and Strides Arcolab have come under the FDA scanner for compliance-related issues.
India and the US are at loggerheads over intellectual property rights (IPR) and increasing regulatory enforcements by the US regulator on Indian companies. IPR-related issues, especially with reference to pharmaceutical and information technology, were top on the list of Modi's agenda during his recent visit to the US.
On April 30, the US trade office had brought out a 'Special 301' report, an annual review of the global state of IPR protection and enforcement, in which it classified India as a 'priority watch list country'.
"We've got to get to the bottom of these enormous price increases. It is unacceptable that Americans pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
Generic drugs were meant to help make medications affordable for the millions of Americans who rely on prescriptions to manage their health needs and now some of them are becoming unaffordable," Sanders had said.
Unlike India, the US is a free market for pharmaceutical pricing. Drug prices are essentially governed by competition. Insurance companies negotiate with drug manufacturers.
However, there are no restrictions or caps on prices of generic products, new or innovative medicines.