Pharma Sector Wants "Price Cap" Rule for Cheap Drugs to be Lifted

The pharmaceutical sector has requested a government exemption from setting a ceiling price for any formulation that is cheap or costs up to ₹5 per unit. The lobbying group Federation of Pharma Entrepreneurs (FoPE) also requested last week's meeting to extend the current five-year price control exemption for patented medications to ten years. According to FoPE, a lot of businesses are carrying out research abroad in the lack of a 10-year exemption.

"All formulations sold at ₹5 per unit i.e. per tablet, capsule, ml, gm may be exempted from provisions of ceiling price," FoPE stated in its report to the secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP). "The industry has been asking for this exemption for a long time. It would be desirable to allow...small manufacturing units to be kept outside the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) provisions," stated a person in the know. Previously, exemptions from price ceiling laws for low-cost formulations had been requested by various lobby groups including the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), which represents the nation's largest drug manufacturing companies.

Under the DPCO, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) sets the maximum price cap for critical Schedule I medications.

FoPE reports that the industry has been facing increased input costs. According to experts, the cost of some essential active pharmaceutical ingredients has risen by 15–130% in the last few years.

FoPE has also suggested lowering the levy on the goods and services tax. "GST should be concurrently reduced on inputs like API, excipients, and packaging material to 5%," added Jain.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)