The Union chemicals minister, Ram Vilas Paswan releasing a booklet on Reduction in Prices of Certain Categories of Medicines in New Delhi on October 31, 2006. The secretary of chemicals and fertilizers, Satwant Reddy is also seen.
The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has published the list of 886 medicines whose prices have been voluntarily reduced by 11 leading manufacturers due to sharp cut in trade margins. The revised prices will be effective on batches manufactured after October 2, 2006 and will reach the retail counters within four to six weeks. The price reduction is in the range of 0.26 per cent to 74.53 per cent.
Releasing the booklet containing the list of medicines here, Union Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the list is to be circulated among all stakeholders across the country for intense monitoring of compliance. "The companies are expected to carry out the reduction on a voluntary basis," he said.
The ministry has entrusted an independent agency and also National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to verify the industry claims, he added.
The drugs cover a wide range of therapeutic categories and several commonly used medicaments like analgesics, cough syrups, tonics and drugs meant to treat infectious diseases, bronchial disorders and antibiotics. antihypertensive, dermatological medicines, eye drops, disinfectants, gastrointestinal medicines, anti-diabetics etc are all part of the list.
The companies which have agreed to reduce the prices of select generic generic drugs include the members of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), Cipla and Medley Pharmaceuticals Limited. The ministry is also negotiating with more companies who are members of Indian Drugs Manufacturers Association (IDMA) to follow suit.
The companies which have reduced the trade margins for subsequent reduction of retail prices and the respective formulations are as follows: Alembic (109 packs), Cadila Healthcare (391), Wockhardt (101), Emcure Pharmaceuticals (10), Unichem Laboratories (16), Ranbaxy Laboratories (72), Lupin Ltd (68), Nicholas Piramal (18), Cipla Ltd (49), Alkem Laboratories (22) and Medley Pharmaceuticals (30).