Indian pharma traders urge government to speed up national drug pricing policy

The All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) - the single largest body of the drug traders in India - has written to Sharad Pawar, Chairman, Group of Ministers, at the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP), to urgently finalize the new drug-pricing policy that seeks to determine prices at which pharmaceutical companies sell essential medicines in the retail market. This will dispel the uncertainty presently prevailing in the market and benefit the patient fraternity and the industry at large.

In the letter, AIOCD president JS Shinde also reiterated the need for a market-based drug pricing policy to best address patient needs and balance industry growth as envisioned in the draft NPPP 2011, in a domestic pharmaceutical market valued at around $9.5 billion.

According to Mr Shinde: “Since a policy decision has been awaiting finalization for quite some time, we have made a humble request to Mr Pawar to hasten the policy process by pointing out that there is general uncertainty in the market that hurts patients and the industry as a whole. If the policy were finalised at the earliest, the clouds of uncertainty would ultimately disperse.”