The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the ceiling price of 27 drug formulation packs under the Drug Price Control Orders, 2016. The list of drugs had already been announced, and now the drug price regulator has fixed the ceiling prices for the same.
The new price ceiling will apply to drugs like Hydroxychloroquine, Amoxicillin, Insulin, Omeprazole, and Phenytoin, which are used to treat diabetes, epilepsy and bacterial infections.
Earlier in May, the drug price control authority had fixed ceiling prices for 54 drug formulations, which included anti-diabetes, anti-cancer, and hypertension.
List of Companies Impacted by NPPA’s Price Ceiling
The Impact
This only adds to the ever-increasing list of drugs falling under price control, which could impact growth in the domestic pharmaceutical industry. But pharma companies seem to have accepted the increasing number of price controlled drugs as a new norm and are focusing on becoming more cost effective to be able to maintain their operating margins.
Besides, new drugs for which ceiling price gets announced, drug firms see a one-time impact in that particular year, post which the lower base comes into play in the subsequent year.
Industry View
Around 31 percent of Alkem Labs’ domestic sales fall under DPCO. But despite the price ceiling, the company said strong volume growth for those drugs will compensate for the lower prices.
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