Panel on drugs may miss deadline

BITTER PILL

The inter-ministerial committee constituted by the chemical ministry, to suggest a system to negotiate prices of patented drugs before getting marketing approval, may fail to submit its report on time as the chairman of the committee has been transferred.

The panel met only twice, and was in the process of calling NGOs and patient support groups, before finalising its recommendations, when the chairman, a director with the Department of Chemials, was relieved of his duties last week.

The committee's functioning can now be renewed only if a new person is given the responsibility to head it. The new chairman will decide whether to start afresh or continue with the initiatives taken already. Whatever be the case, the report is not to be ready within the three-month deadline given to the committee, it is learnt.

Interestingly, the multinational pharmaceutical companies, represented by Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) was the only interest groups that had made a formal presentation before the patent negotiation committee. The domestic industry had totally sidelined the official committee as it felt that the patented product approvals were not a major issue for them.

The committee was asked to look into the practices adopted by nations like Canada, France and Australia, to identify an appropriate guideline.

The plans for pre-negotiation of patented drug prices was opposed by OPPI which felt that international pricing models cannot work in India as such measures are designed for and are effective only in reimbursement-based healthcare systems, where the government provides healthcare to its citizens.

The association wanted marketing approval to continue to be de-linked from price fixation as it would cause unnecessary delay in entry of these products in the market.