Drug price regulator NPPA has reduced the prices of ten drugs, including of anti-coagulant enoxaparin and anti- epilepsy drug carbamazepine, in the range of 4.8 per cent to a tad over 23.3 per cent.
On the other hand, medicines like paracetamol and antibiotics like cefadroxil and cefazolin have been brought under the price control ambit for the first time.
Confirming the development, NPPA Chairman Bhupendra Singh told PTI: "We will bring more medicines under the price control as a total of 800 plus formulations are to be brought under the price control as soon as possible."
Earlier National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said on twitter: "NPPA fixes the ceiling prices of 18 more drugs in its 36th meeting held on 14th September. Total drugs under price control now 467 in NLEM, 2015."
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The government currently fixes the prices of essential drugs based on the simple average of all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment, having sales of more than 1 per cent.
It also monitors the maximum retail prices (MRP) of all the drugs and companies are allowed to hike prices of non-scheduled drugs by up to 10 per cent in a year.
Last month, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said the government is mulling providing more than 50 essential drugs, including those used in treatment of cancer and AIDS, at cheaper rates to a large section of the population.
Set up in 1997, NPPA has been entrusted with the task of fixation/revision of prices of pharma products, enforcement of provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order and monitoring prices of controlled and decontrolled drugs.
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