The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the retail price of 19 formulations, including a cancer drug and a medicine for the treatment of hypertension through a January 3 notification.
Trastuzumab is used in the treatment of breast and stomach cancer. Manufactured by Hetero Biopharma Limited and Mankind Pharma Limited, the will now have a ceiling price of Rs 15817.49 per vial.
Another drug with lowered prices will be Bisoprolol Fumarate and Amlodipine tablets manufactured by Swiss Garnier Biotech Private Limited and Zydus Healthcare Limited (a subsidiary of Zydus Lifesciences). Each tablet will have a ceiling price of Rs 6.74. Amlodipine and Bisoprolol tablets are used in the treatment of blood pressure.
Alos read: NPPA makes 33 fixed-dose combination drugs cheaper, brings them under regulation
Another hypertension medication, Metoprolol Succinate Extended Release & Cilnidipine Tablets, manufactured by Pure and Cure Healthcare Pvt Ltd and Cipla Limited will also have a ceiling price of Rs 10.
A combination of Amoxycillin and Potassium Clavulanate Tablets manufactured by Theon Pharmaceuticals Ltd, JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd will have a ceiling price of Rs 40.03 per tablet. Amoxicillin combination penicillin-type antibiotics are used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections.
“In case the retail price of any of the formulations is not complied with, as per instant price notification and notes specified hereinabove, then the concerned manufacturer/marketing company shall be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with the interest thereon under the provisions of the DPCO, 2013 read with the Essential Commodities Act, 1955,” the notification said.
The drug pricing regulator had announced its last price cut in November 2023. In the same month, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court held that the government only has power to “monitor” the maximum retail price (MRP) of non-scheduled formulations, and not to fix or revise it.
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