India brings another 52 drugs under NPPA price control
13 Dec 2014
The Indian government has brought 52 new drugs under the control of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to put a check on prices of essential medicines. The decision was notified by the NPPA on 11 December 2014, Parliament was informed on Friday.
The NPPA extended the price control mechanism on 52 drugs, which includes some commonly used painkillers and antibiotics as well as medicines used to treat cancer and skin disorders.
The medicines include popular antibiotic ciprofloxacin, a BCG vaccine and the anti-diabetic metformin, along with paracetamol, glucose, amoxycilline, diazepam, codeine phosphate, losartan and diclofenac.
These new drugs join a list of nearly 400 essential treatments which is more than 450 drugs that involve NPPA ceiling and retail prices for these medicines.
The manufacturers covered by the price cap include Lupin Ltd, Cadila Healthcare Co, and Germany-based Merck's Indian arm.
Earlier in September 2014, the NPPA had fixed the prices of 36 drugs that include those to treat infections and diabetes.
The NPPA was established under the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO).
The union government established NPPA to fix or revise the prices of controlled bulk drugs and formulations and to enforce prices and availability of the medicines in India.