NPPA slashes prices of medicines for TB, cancer, hepatitis B by up to 20 percent
New Delhi, 21 Sep 2017:
Some drugs used in the treatment of cancer, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, measles and malaria are expected to get cheaper as the country's drug pricing watchdog has limited their maximum prices.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Wednesday said it has fixed and revised the ceiling prices of 39 drug formulations.
The move is expected to slash prices of some of these drugs, like Hepatitis B immunoglobulin, by as much as 20%, a senior government told ET on condition of anonymity.
TB drugs like rifabutin, chemotherapy medicines actinomycin D and ifosfamide, migraine medication sumatriptan, measles vaccine and Serum Institute's anti-rabies drug (rMAb) also figure in NPPA's latest price control notification.
The latest notification brings the tally of essential medicines under price control to 821 under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), according to a tweet by NPPA.