If the union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers sticks to its plan to identify the bulk drugs that are to come under price control by using ORG data of March 2004, the 65 bulk drugs that are likely to figure in the list would include most of the Scheduled drugs that are covered under the existing Drugs Price Control Order.

The list may contain bulk drugs like Amikacin, Aspirin, Aspartame, Acarbose, Allopurinol, Betamethasone, Bisacodyl, Cefotaxime, Chloroquine, Clotrimazole, Cinnarizine, Ceftazidime, Calcium, Clioquinol, Conjugated Estrogen, Carbimazole, Cefaclor, Diclofenac, Cetylpyridinium Chlor, Carboprost Trometham, Diltiazem, Dydrogesterone, Digoxin, Erythromycin, Enalapril, Framycetin, Furosemide, Fexefenabine, Folic Acid, Glyceryl Trinitrate, Glipizide, Glibenclamide, Hydroxyzine, Ibuprofen, Insulin, Lorazepam, Lincomycin, Minoxidil, Metoclopramide, Metoprolol, Metronidazole, Norfloxacin, Norethisterone, Nandrolone, Oxpentifylline, Oxytetracycline, Povidone Iodine, Prednisolone, Piroxicam, Phenytoin, Pheniramine Maleate, Piracetam, Promethazine, Prochlorperazine, Phenobarbitone, Pentazocinc, Roxithromycin, Ramipril, Salazosulphapyribyne, Salbutamol/Albuterol, Thyroxine, Trypsin Chymotrypsin, Tricholine Citrate, Vitamin E and Xylometazoline.

As Pharmabiz had reported earlier, 39 of these bulk drugs are from the essential drug list and the rest (26 drugs) based on the turn over criteria prescribed in the Pharmaceutical Policy 2002.

It should be noted that the Prime Minister's task force on drug pricing headed by Dr Pronab Sen, Advisor, Planning Commission had recommended the announcement of ceiling prices for all 272 drugs that come under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). The prices should be calculated on the basis of the weighted average price of the top five brands by volume of single ingredient formulations prevailing in the market as on 1-1-2005, the task force had suggested.