New Delhi: Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority in its 115th meeting on Wednesday fixed the retail prices of 44 new drug formulations. The regulator also notified changes in bulk drugs and formulations, monitored prices of non-scheduled drugs and formulations, and monitored the implementation of the provisions of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), according to a report published in Zee Business.
In the meeting, the maximum prices of medicines related to sugar, pain, fever, infection, and heart disease including multivitamins and D3 have been fixed. Troika Pharmaceuticals’ 250mg/ml ‘Paracetamol Injection’ is currently exempted. NPPA has said in its order that any company will be able to take only GST apart from the fixed price. Apart from this, companies will be able to collect GST from the customer only when they have paid it themselves. All stakeholders, retailers, and stockists have to be informed about the change in prices in 15 days.
If a company fails to do so, action will be taken against it under the GST Act. This move of NPPA is likely to impact pharma companies like IPCA Laboratories, Mankind Pharma, Alkem Laboratories, Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Cipla, Sanofi, and Abbott India. Medicines used in the treatment of stress, epilepsy, diabetes, and mild migraine will be cheaper. According to the NPPA order, the maximum price per tablet of Aceclofenac, Paracetamol, and Serratiopeptidase used in the treatment of headache, mild migraine, musculoskeletal pain or painful menstruation has been fixed at Rs 8.38.
The drug Sitagliptin Phosphate and Metformin Hydrochloride, given to adult patients of type 2 diabetes, will be available for a maximum of Rs 9 per tablet. Levetiracetam, sodium chloride infusion and paroxetine controlled release, and clonazepam capsules used for epilepsy will be capped at Rs 0.89 and Rs 14.53, respectively. At present the cost of these medicines is very high. GST charges are different in the maximum retail price of all these medicines. Companies will be able to recover this from the customer only when they have paid GST themselves.
