Indian pharma regulator joins push on excessive drug price hikes

As the crackdown on Canadian drug company Concordia International continues for overcharging the UK’s National Health Service by more than £100 million over the past decade, India's drug price regulator the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has identified over 601 suspected cases of overcharging where drug companies are not complying with the notified ceiling prices. The NPPA has also instituted new price caps which are likely to hit many Indian drugmakers' domestic formulation businesses, as well as those of multinationals' operating in India, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

In a fresh imposition and making drugs cheaper, the regulator has fixed the ceiling price of 51 more drug formulations that include vaccines and medicines to treat hepatitis-C, kidney diseases, hemophilia B, cardiac problems and cancers.

Drug prices have been slashed in the range of 6% to 53%. Two separate notifications have been issued in this regard. "Ceiling prices of 13 formulations have been notified and prices for 15 have been revised. Retail prices of 23 essential formulations have also been notified," said a senior official.