Govt stalls plan to cut drug prices after pushback from pharma companies

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and other industry bodies argued these changes would increase drug prices, cost jobs and hamper innovation

India’s proposal to curb drug prices by stripping generic medicines of their brand names has stalled after the plan faced pushback from the country’s pharmaceutical companies, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

The Draft Pharmaceutical Policy circulated last summer by the Department of Pharmaceuticals has made no progress since opposition emerged from the industry and among some government agencies, according to the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are not public. While the department has been ordered to redraft the policy, a new one is not expected through the rest of the current government’s term