NPPA to cap medicine prices to boost affordability, curb profiteering

Prices of vital medicines like vitamin A, vitamin C, glycerine and anti-tetanus immunoglobulin may be capped as India's drug pricing regulator looks to curb profiteering by pharmaceutical companies, a report published in The Economic Times (ET) said.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is planning to use its powers to further public interest. NPPA is planning to impose price caps under para 19 of the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013. It can do so for an indefinite period to make essential medicines more affordable to patients.

Quoting from the minutes of the authority meeting, ET reported, “The NPPA has been invoking para 19 in certain cases in the public interest to make drugs affordable with indefinite period.”

A senior official was quoted as saying in the report that India is the pharmacy of the world but out-of-pocket expenses on pricey medicines take families on the threshold of poverty. "Thus, such provisions are necessary," he said.

The change could have financial implications for leading drug manufacturers like Abbott Laboratories, Bayer AG, and GlaxoSmithKline, among others, ET reported.

An unnamed pharma lobby expert told ET that the move may face "resistance from the industry".

Indian markets have witnessed increased demand for vitamin and mineral-related supplements. Quoting data from the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), the report said that there has been a 30-40 per cent increase in the demand for immunity boosters in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an earlier decision in 2017, the drug pricing regulator slashed the prices of stents by 87 per cent. Additionally, orthopaedic knee implants were also made more economical for a period of one year by invoking para 19 of the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013. Later, the price reduction was extended for another year.