Govt brings 39 more drugs under price control ambit

The government has brought 39 more drugs used to treat various diseases such as diabetes and digestive disorders under price control as part of its efforts to make medicines affordable in the country.
In a statement, regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said "it has fixed/revised the prices in respect of 39 formulation packs..."
As per the notification, the prices of formulations including Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride, Cefotaxime, Paracetamol, Domperidone and Metformin+Glimepiride have been fixed.
The latest move of the government will impact various pharmaceutical companies, including Cadila Healthcare, Lupin, IPCA Laboratories, Abbott Laboratories and GlaxoSmithKline.
The new medicines are the latest additions to the price control list, which covers over 500 drugs. Earlier in May, NPPA had capped the prices of 30 formulation packs, including those used to treat diseases such as tuberculosis, diabetes and asthma.

At present, the government caps prices of essential drugs based on the simple average of all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment with sales of more than 1 per cent.
In other cases, companies are allowed to hike prices by only up to 10 per cent in a year.
The government had notified DPCO, 2013, which covers 680 formulations, effective May 15, 2014, replacing the 1995 order that regulated only 74 bulk drugs.