Import of drugs under price control may be hit

The import of medicines under price control may be stuck for at least a month, as apex drug price regulator, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), is unlikely to consider price revision applications for dozens of imported drugs during its monthly price review meeting next week.

Every consignment of imported medicine that fall under the scheduled list of price-controlled drugs needs an approval from the NPPA before it reaches the country's distribution channels. A delay in clearance would result in the stocks being stuck in the point of entry, industry sources said.

Imported insulin brands, which are critical for diabetic patients, are among the list of 74 basic drugs in the price-controlled list.

According to official sources, NPPA's decision to postpone the clearance of price revision applications for imported medicines was based on a recent Delhi High Court order which asked NPPA to review the manner in which the authority wanted to fix the price for US-based Eli Lilly's insulin brand. The company had approached the court drug the medicine price regulator was not allowing it to charge the (up to 50 per cent) price margin over the landing cost of the medicine, though this was permitted for imported medicines under current rules.

NPPA had sought the details of the actual cost of production of the drug. The company, however, argued the landing cost should be sole criteria for price revision.

The court had asked NPPA to issue a new pricing order on Lilly's application before July-end. The authority is known to be re-looking the entire price fixation process for imported medicines, thus resulting in the postponement of such cases.

The industry hopes the High Court verdict would have a bearing on future price fixations (of prices of imported scheduled drugs) carried out by NPPA, resulting in higher prices for such medicines.

Currently, most imported drugs are given a 35 per cent mark-up over their landed costs, with 50 per cent mark-ups seen in rare cases.