The pharmaceutical industry in Gujarat has requested the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to revise the prices for large volume parenterals (LVPs), fixed almost 12 years back, as early as possible for the benefit of the manufacturers struggling to sell such products under the price control at a time when the cost of manufacturing has gone up substantially during this period.

The last time the prices of LVPs fixed by the NPPA was in 1998, and the cost of raw materials and manufacturing has increased considerably within the 12 years. The authority has to consider the facts and should revise the prices to help the companies working in this segment, requested the association to the NPPA, it is learnt.

The message of the industry was conveyed by the commissioner, Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA), Gujarat, in a recent review meeting with the NPPA. “The meeting was to review the activities of the State drug control organisation supporting the drug pricing authority in the past and future prospects. We have also conveyed the problems faced by the industry in pricing policy, so that they would be solved thus paving way for better growth of the industry,” said H G Koshia, commissioner, FDCA.

The industry has also appealed to the drug pricing authority to consider the actual costs in manufacturing products before fixing ceiling price in such a way that the manufacturers could afford the costs and survive in the market with its products. This would also curb the possibilities of companies coming up with combination drugs to dodge the price of the particular products, said sources from FDCA.

For instance, the industry has started preparing combination of doxycycline, one of the largely sold antibiotic to treat a variety of infections, with lactobacillus when the price fixed by the authority for single drug doxycycline was found not viable for the manufacturer. Such incidents could be avoided if the authority consider the comments of manufacturers prior to fixing ceiling prices.

Gujarat is one of the states which reports large number of price violation incidents to the NPPA, along with Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The FDCA has reported 475 cases on violation of fixed prices by the companies to the NPPA in last four years. Further, it has also supported the authority to recover <span class="WebRupee">Rs.</span>7 crore from Gujarat-based companies on reported price violations.