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The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Wednesday announced that manufacturers may increase prices of scheduled drugs included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) by 1.74 per cent, on the basis of changes in the wholesale price index (WPI).
“Based on the WPI data provided by the office of the economic advisor, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the annual change in WPI works out as +1.74028 per cent during calendar year 2024 over the corresponding period of 2023,” the drug pricing regulator said in a notification dated March 26.
With this, manufacturers will be allowed to increase the maximum retail price (MRP) of scheduled formulations on the basis of WPI without needing any prior approval from the government in this regard.
A scheduled formulation is any medicine, whether branded or generic, that is included in Schedule I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), also known as the NLEM. There are approximately over 900 formulations in the NLEM.
The prices of these scheduled formulations are controlled by the NPPA, meaning they have a ceiling price that manufacturers cannot exceed.
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Rajiv Singhal, secretary general, All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), said that the move to allow an increase of MRP in line with WPI could provide some relief to the pharmaceutical industry by adjusting prices, as the cost of raw materials and other expenses continues to rise.
“It will take approximately two to three months for medicines with revised prices to reach the market, given that around 90 days’ worth of saleable stock is typically available in the supply chain,” he added.
The revision of ceiling prices is a routine exercise undertaken by the NPPA. The drug pricing regulator is vested with the responsibility of fixing and revising prices of pharmaceutical products, enforcing provisions of the DPCO, and monitoring the prices of both controlled and decontrolled drugs.
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