India weighing price controls on patented drugs

The government is considering price controls on expensive patented drugs, in a bid to make medical treatment affordable to a majority of its population amidst galloping prices of essential drugs.

The government is planning to rein in prices of expensive patented drugs to make medical treatment affordable to a majority of the population, Dilsher Singh Kalha, secretary of the department of pharmaceuticals, said on Friday.

The move follows a manifold increase in the prices of essential medicines, mostly belonging to the patented category, in the wake of relaxations in the Drug Prices Control Order.

"A committee has already finalised a proposal and we will put it out in the public domain in a month or so," Kalha told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

The proposal is to fix a reference price to basic drugs and then allow for a percentage mark-up to compensate for brand costs.

"There could be reference pricing system (for patented drugs) or maybe fixed-pricing, but a final decision has not been taken," Kalha said.