Price of Drugs To Fall as Watchdog Caps Prices

CHENNAI: Drugs used for treatment of many life threatening diseases like HIV/AIDS, high blood pressure, diabetes, tuberculosis and epilepsy will cost less, with price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority fixing an upper price limit for 103 drug formulation packs.
The new prices will come into effect from Friday. Doctors and patients both have welcomed the move. Dr D Rajendran,general practitioner, said that any decrease in the cost of drugs for common or dangerous diseases is a welcome move.
“The most expensive part of treatment for most diseases that are treated on an outsystem     basis is the cost of drugs and drug formulations. The reduction, however small, will be a relief for patients,” he said.

In fact, the NPPA’s move has made some critical drugs for fatal and potentially fatal diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and Hepatitis C cheaper.Drugs like Tenofovir, Lamivudine, Raltegravir, all used for treatment of HIV/AIDS and Sofosbuvir, which is used against Hepatitis C have been capped. The former three have become cheaper,ranging from Rs 1-4 per tablet, while  Sofusbuvir has been capped at a lower rate, Rs 17.25, from earlier. It comes down to Rs 619.31 down from Rs 636.56 previously.
A tablet of combination drugs Tenofovir 300mg, Lamivudine 300mg and Efavirenz 600mg, all HIV medication, will now cost Rs 91.71 as against Rs  94.27 earlier. Raltegravir 400 mg is now cheaper by Rs 3.88, coming down to Rs 139.25 from Rs  143.13.
Other drugs like Levodopa (Parkinson’s), anti-epileptics like Levetiracetam and Phenytoin, cardiovascular disease drug Atorvastatin—40 mg have also been made cheaper.
The NPPA has also fixed the retail price of two formulations —Hyoscine Butylbromide + Paracetamol Tablet and Methyldopa Tablet, under DPCO, 2013.
New drug ceilings fixed based on wpi, 2015
The current price ceilings fixed by the NPPA is based on the Wholesale Price Index for the previous calender year, 2015. The move is an expected one, since WPI has constantly fallen from its height of 7.4 per cent in 2012-13 to 2 per cent in 2014-15, and going into the negative, -2.8 per cent,  in 2015-16 (up to January 2016)  .
680 essential drugs under NPPA control
At present, the government caps prices of essential drugs based on the simple average of all medicines with sales of more than one per cent. The government had notified DPCO, 2013, which covers 680 formulations, with effect from May 15, 2014, replacing the 1995 order that regulated prices of only 74 bulk drugs.