NPPA seeks co-operation of industry on price control issues

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has sought cooperation from the industry to manage the existing issues including the non availability of highly price controlled drugs in the market and the requirement of more production data from the industry for better price control and monitoring activities.

NPPA chairman S M Jharwal said that the authority has noticed that many a time the industry tends to discontinue production of low priced medicines substituting it with non controlled or higher priced medicines for better returns. Speaking as the chief guest at the 48th annual celebrations of the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA), he informed that the authority would like to interfere on the issue.

"Sometimes, the industry discontinues manufacturing of low priced medicines and substitute it by higher priced products. The NPPA is open for dialogue with the industry to find a solution for this issue," he said. The authority is also finding it difficult to understand the whole issue in the industry, as there are gaps existing in the data with the office on the pharma product details.

Even though the pharma industry is highly organised, the NPPA is not getting the required data on production, prices, imports and exports in a regular manner. The industry should cooperate with NPPA to resolve these issues for affordability of medicines in the country.

The result of the survey, which suggests that the presence of spurious drugs is only 0.46 per cent, must be taken with a pinch of salt, said Jharwal. "Though the figure suggests a meagre 0.46 per cent of spurious drugs in India, if we take it in absolute monetary terms, it would account to almost Rs 500 crore," he commented. The Indian pharma industry has crossed a total revenue of Rs One lakh crore including exports and the industry should take adequate steps to keep the reputation of the country with quality products, he added.

Delivering his address as the guest of honour, Devendra Chaudhary, joint secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), suggested the IDMA to initiate effort to revive the 260 drug manufacturing units closed down due to the implementation of revised Schedule M. "The IDMA can involve itself in various efforts for the growth of the industry, like conducting a meeting of all 260 units identified as closed due to Schedule M implementation and to bring them back to business," he said.

The industry also needs a huge number of trained human resource in near future to keep up the pace with the expected growth. The government has initiated its efforts by setting up more institutions like National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) in various parts of the country. However, the industry should also take adequate steps to train the manpower to suit their requirements, he added.

IDMA president, N R Munjal, has raised the association's concern over the existing issues like uncertainty about legalisation of spurious drugs guideline by the DCGI, the stumble-blocks the industry faces on the approval of the Fixed Dose Combinations (FDC), lack of proper guidelines for allowing over-the-counter status for certain products.

In the annual meeting, Anand Rangachary, MD, healthcare practice, South Asia & Middle East, Frost & Sullivan presented a detailed view on the Indian healthcare industry in a CEO perspective, suggesting the industry to tap areas with huge potential like the biosimilars market and outsourcing of such products.