The Hindu : Business : New drug pricing policy proposed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 07, 2005

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Business

New drug pricing policy proposed

Special Correspondent

Government wants to ensure that drugs are available at an affordable price

NEW DELHI: The government is considering proposals for a new drugs pricing policy based on the draft recommendations of a task force headed by Pronab Sen. The new policy is expected to be placed for Cabinet approval by the end of this month or early October. Disclosing this here on Tuesday, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said several meetings had been held with pharmaceuticals industry organisations on various issues regarding the price control order over the last two days based on the task force's report.

Addressing a press conference, he said the industry had been asked to come back within a week with their recommendations on the price control issue.

He said the industry should not suffer but the Government also wanted to ensure that drugs were available at an affordable price as per commitments in the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government.

He noted that the industry had reservations on the issues of the proposed price control through ceiling prices of essential drugs and debranding of selected medicines.

It also had reservations on the constitution of National Authority on Drugs and Therapeutics (NADT) as they desired to keep price control out of NADT,

The task force has proposed price control of drugs based on the their essentiality, selective de-branding of medicines as well as calculating a ceiling price for drugs based on the basis of weighted average of top three brand of the molecule.

It also recommended enactment of a Drugs and Therapeutics (Regulation) Act for price control and establishment of National Authority on Drugs and Therapeutics by merging Drugs Controller General of India and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.

PTI reports:

Industry leaders were sceptical of the Government's proposal to bring in a drug price control order. "The government should not put a curb on pricing and the satus quo should be maintained,'' Nicholas Piramal India Chairman Ajay Piramal, who led a CII delegation to meet the Minister, said.

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