After fixing pro-rata pricing on the first lot of oral liquids with a view to restrain the pharma companies from dodging the prices fixed by the authorities, the price regulator is planning to bring tubes in the controlled drugs market also under the cover of pro-rata pricing very soon.

The next meeting of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), to be held sometime in March, would finalise in the next batch of oral medicines and tubes to be brought under the pro-rata pricing mechanism, sources said.

After introducing the pro-rata pricing for strips and blisters long back, recently the NPPA fixed prices for 16 specific medicines in the liquid segment including multivitamins and antibiotics. As the vials and injectibles segment did not report much of irregularities, now the next task would be to extend it to the tubes, thus covering nearly the entire controlled market.

The NPPA decided to act tough against the companies, after surveys showed that drug makers tried to dodge the price fixing by changing the pack sizes and strengths of brands. With strips and oral liquids covered, about 77 per cent of the scheduled market is brought under pro-rata scheme.

Through a notification on January 31, it fixed/revised the prices in respect of 245 formulation packs. Formulation based on bulk drugs included Theophylline with combination liquid, multivitamin liquid, Salbutamol, Multivitamin tonic, multivitamin drop, Theophylline + Alcohol Syrup, and Ciprofloxacin with combination. Almost all domestic companies have one or more product in this category.