Dumping causes key Indian bulk drug prices to plunge

Tough competition and dumping by China have forced some Indianpharmaceutical companies to sell their bulk drugs at well below cost and government-controlled prices, the Financial Express reported. Quoting industry sources, it said that drugs selling at huge discounts include the antimalarial chloroquine, the tuberculosis drug rifampicin and the antiulcerant famotidine.

Chloroquine is being sold at around 850-900 rupees ($10-$20) per kilo, a discount of over 36% compared with the official notified price of 1,340 rupees per kilo. Rifampicin is currently priced at around 4,100-4,200 rupees per kilo, against the official price of 4,885 rupees a kilo.

Cloxacillin (oral grade), famotidine and vitamin C are currently sold at an average price of 1,550 rupees (official price 2,356 rupees), 2,400 rupees (4,684 rupees) and 430 rupees (526 rupees) a kilo respectively. "We are forced to sell even below costs due to competition and acute dumping pressures," a senior pharmaceutical company official was quoted as saying.