Pharma pricing policy flayed

The Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) and Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) said when government is reducing controls in all sectors, the pharma sector should also be opened to competition. “It should have focused on generating adequate surplus for the industry to develop new products and to create capacities to meet the demand growth.

However, the proposed draft policy seems to have ignored need for ensuring long-term availability in favour of short-term benefit of ensuring access,” IPA Secretary-General DG Shah told PTI.

The draft NPPP, 2011 proposes to regulate prices of drug formulations only, unlike the existing principle of controlling prices of specified bulk drugs and their formulations as adopted in drug policy, 1994.

This was done as it was felt that the price control in the form of formulations is better for the consumer who is actually affected only by the price of the final end product- formulation. The draft policy also seeks to bring 60 per cent of total domestic pharmaceutical market amounting to nearly Rs 29,000 crore under price control.