Stent prices fall as `Made in India’ boosts supplies: report

Competition from Indian companies has forced global manufacturers of cardiac stent to slash prices even as these companies are catering to the market in 76 countries, supplying quality products, says a report.

According to a report published in The Hindu Business Line, the Indian stent manufacturers are not just ensuring high quality, but nearly half of the 9 firms are also exporting products worth $32 million serving markets in 76 countries.

Further, besides serving the local market and forcing international companies to slash rates of their stents, the Indian manufacturers are also helping heart patients across the world, including countries in South America, South East Asia and Europe.

Not only that, the report says, Indian stents were particularly appreciated, at the last Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting, for its effectiveness in patients with diabetics.

TCT is a global educational meet for interventional cardiologists. The National Intervention Council, a forum for practitioners of interventional cardiology and the interventional arm of the Cardiology Society of India, are holding their joint meeting in Hyderabad.

The stent pricing in the country will be standardized once it's listed as an essential drug by the government and MRP is fixed.

These were some of the significant observations made at the National Intervention Council - a forum for practitioners of interventional cardiology & the interventional arm of the Cardiology Society of India being held in Hyderabad.

The meeting observed the alarming trend in the pattern of heart attacks, especially the increase in the number of young patients, those below the age of 40 years. This, the meeting observed, is peculiar to India as nowhere in the world is it seen.

At least 10 per cent of the patients undergoing angioplasty - 3.75 lakh angioplasties performed during 2014-15 - are below 40 years, the maximum incidence and usage is in the age group 40 to 70 years (75 per cent) and 15 per cent above 70 years, according to the NIC data released at the event.

The chairman, NIC 2016, N N Khanna commented that a total of 4.75 lakh stents were used during 2014-15. Of these 95 per cent was drug eluting stents. The usage of stents is growing rapidly, up by over one lakh compared to the previous year.

About 23 per cent of angioplasties were done under the government insurance scheme being sponsored by various state governments while the number of such angioplasties has increased by 19 per cent compared to the previous year.

According to Shiv Kumar, organising secretary, government support to cover medical expenses for the poor has led to increasing use of drug-eluting stents and health benefits. Earlier, the poor opted for bare metal stents, which led to side effects and complications.

As per NIC, data on cardiac problems collated from 630 centres in the country show that almost 75 per cent of the treating centres provided this facility, which on a par with countries like the USA.