The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which has been revising the prices of essential medicines in accordance with the new Drug Price Control Order, 2013 since June this year, has fixed the prices of 63 more formulation packs.
With this, the total number of formulation packs covered under the new pharmaceutical policy has crossed 400, including over 50 packs whose prices could not be revised as information was not available. The price regulator had already announced the new prices for over 300 formulation packs already.
According to the new pricing policy, the ceiling of prices are fixed based on the simple average of the prices of all brands of that drug that have a market share of atleast one per cent. The national list of essential medicines lists 348 bulk drugs, which are sold as 650 formulations.
The formulation packs for which prices were revised are based on magnesium sulphate, phenytoin sodium, clotrimazole, acyclovir, clindamycin, cyclosporine, L- Asparaginase, melphalan, mercaptopurine, paclitaxel, procarbazine, vinblastine sulphate, daunorubicin, chlorambucil, phytomenadione, Dextran-40, Factor VIII concentrate, omeprazole, hyoscine butyl bromide, condoms, diphtheria antitoxin, rabies immunoglobin, hepatitis b vaccine, measles vaccine, chloramphenicol, thiopentone sodium, desferrioxamine mesylate, praziquantel, isoniazid, clotrimazole, efavirenz, ritonavir, diloxanide furoate, sodium stibogluconate, busulphan, etoposide, folic acid, hydroxyethyl starch (Hetastarch), digoxin, 5-amino salicylic acid (5-ASA), bisacodyl, ethinylestradiol, antitetanus human immunoglobin, neostigmine, betaxolol hydrochloride, terbutaline sulphate, lignocaine hcl, sulphacetamide sodium, sulphacetamide sodium, and azithromycin.
The combination drugs like glibenclamide + metformin HCL, olmesartan medoxomil + metoprolol succinate, olmesartan, edoxomil + metoprolol succinate, telmisartan + metoprolol succinate, amoxycillin + potassium clavulantate, cefixime trihydrate+ ornidazole, voglibose + metformin hcl, ceftriaxone sodium + sulbactum sodium, and voglibose + metformin hcl were also among those. Apart from this, the agency also revised the prices for paracetamol drops and cefixime drops.