National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has once again started the exercise of collecting drug price data from the pharmaceutical companies. It had sent notices last month to all the state drug authorities and industry associations seeking their support in procuring this vital data. NPPA had issued a general notice advising manufacturers and importers of drugs and pharmaceuticals strict compliance of this statutory requirement. NPPA is also trying to put some pressure on pharmaceutical companies this time with the help of state drug authorities. Yet, the response from a large majority of pharmaceutical companies and importers is not very encouraging. It is almost impossible for NPPA to collect such huge voluminous data with its own officials. Therefore, the pharmaceutical industry needs to cooperate with NPPA for doing its primary function of drug price fixing and monitoring. As per the provisions of the DPCO, 1995, the pharmaceutical companies and importers of bulk drugs and formulations are required to submit returns relating to fixation of bulk drug prices, price lists of bulk drugs and formulations, production and sales figures of bulk drugs and formulations, etc. on a regular basis to NPPA. The DPCO makes it very clear that every manufacturer and importer of drugs and pharmaceuticals has to submit such in information in forms I, II, V and VI.
One of the objectives of collecting industry data this time is to bring in some key life saving drugs into the price control regime. After the DPCO, 1995 was notified, a large number of essential drugs were introduced in the market but all of them remain outside the price control. This is not an acceptable position whatever may be the administrative reasons for that. It is important that these life saving drugs are brought under the purview of price control considering their current level of prices and essentiality. Authentic industry data can enable NPPA to take out some drugs outside the price control by reviewing their production, availability and market prices. There has been stiff resistance mainly from large pharmaceutical companies to provide data to the government. Experience of NPPA is that only a few medium scale companies readily part with industry data even when asked for. What the drug companies fear is that the government may use such data against them in future. It is this fear and non-cooperation by drug companies that leads to wrong decision in price fixation of certain drugs as NPPA resorts to its own way of data collection. It is, therefore, in the interest of Pharma companies to cooperate with NPPA to avoid unfair price decisions and subsequent legal hassles.