Aiming to bring down the prices of medicines by around 50 per cent, the SME Pharma Industries Confederation (SPIC) has come out with a plan, affordable priced quality medicines plan (APQMP). Under this, the manufacturers will not be allowed more than 500 per cent MAPE (maximum allowed post-manufacturing expenses) on their products.  The SPIC has already submitted its plan to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP).

SPIC secretary general Jagdeep Singh said that the ex-factory cost of commonly used medicines, including those on the NLEM List, is between one third to one twentieth of the MRP printed on labels. The government agrees that MRP with 500 per cent MAPE can be worked out in a matter of days by NPPA or any other government agency and displayed on a website.

As per the plan, any company who is willing to print this MRP on labels shall give an undertaking and be registered on the website. The company will be entitled to use of a 'logo' which the government will simultaneously advertise in electronic media so that consumers will ask the doctors or the retailers for medicine with that logo and not be at their mercy anymore. Since medicines with logo have sufficient margin, none of the stakeholder will be averse to it. Only unnecessary profiteering will come to an end.

If any company using the logo violates the MRP on website shall be liable to criminal prosecution to which it shall agree when seeking use of logo at the time of registration. Consumers/consumer organizations should be allowed to take the company to court.

The plan says that the only involvement of government would be to advertise this logo in the media not only to instill confidence in affordable drugs but to ensure that the patients ask the doctor to prescribe medicines with the logo and buy medicine with logo. The demand generated will prompt the companies to produce and doctors to prescribe and dispense logo drugs. Annual saving to consumer can be a whopping Rs. 30,000 crore against an advertisement cost of Rs. 200 crore to the government, Singh said.

If the plan is implemented in letter and spirit, the prices of medicines will come down by 50 per cent, Singh said.  For instance, the price of Meropenem Inj can be brought down from Rs. 2300 to Rs. 1080 if the plan is implemented as the cost of the medicine is just Rs. 180. Likewise, the prices of Ceftriaxone j 1 gm can be brought down from Rs. 160 to Rs. 78 as the existing factory cost of the medicine is just Rs. 13. The prices of Cefoperazone+Salbactum Inj can be sold at Rs. 72 against the existing price of Rs. 180.

Similarly, the commonly used anti histaminic Ceterizine (10 tabs) can be sold at Rs. 4.50 against the existing price of Rs. 28 as the existing factory cost is Rs. 0.75 only.