The Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) will soon submit latest data on the increase in active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and packaging materials in the past few months to the Ministry of Chemicals and Petrochemicals and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in a bid to seek necessary price hikes of pharmaceutical products.

The Association, in its meeting with the ministry and officials last week has submitted a memorandum seeking relief from the price control mechanism to tackle the recent skyrocketing of prices in raw material and packaging materials in pharmaceutical industry. The authority has sought sufficient data to analyse the steep rise in cost of production in order to avoid dearth of pharmaceutical products in the country, according to IDMA sources.

The IDMA has asked its members to submit the data as early as possible so as to submit a compiled data to the government within five days. "We have tried to impress the government upon the sharp increase in cost of ingredients across the board and packaging materials, which was unprecedented for the last three or four decades. The NPPA has assured us that the matter would be addressed immediately," an IDMA source informed.

The authority is currently analysing the applications from individual industry members for allowing increase of product prices in the backdrop of the sudden price hike in raw materials and other materials used in manufacturing. However, the industry feels that there should be an action from the authority to address the same issue affecting the pharma companies across the board.

For instance, the prices of packaging materials have increased from 20 to 30 per cent across the board in the past few months. The price increase in APIs is almost 50 to 200 per cent. While the overall price hike is affecting the industry as a whole, the government has to take a holistic measure to overcome the crisis, added industry sources. In the meeting, the authority assured immediate disposal of applications by the individual companies for price increase on the basis of cost of production.

Experts say that the authority should use provisions to increase the ceiling price of pharmaceutical formulations similar to the revision of API prices under controlled category. Industry sources say that the government is not inclined to increase the product prices on an ad hoc basis and the decision will depend on the policy approach of the ministry of chemicals.

The present crisis may affect the pharma companies in the coming months as the period from July to November is considered as the peak time for infectious diseases requiring more drugs in market. The IDMA has also appealed the authority to revise its provision restricting companies from increasing the price of finished formulations beyond the ceiling of 10 per cent in an year. "The authority should consider raising the ceiling to 20 per cent, which was the norm earlier. We hope that with the submission of data, the government may take a favourable decision to help the pharma industry in the country," said another source with IDMA.