NPPA proposes ceiling price of 26 more scheduled formulations

New Delhi, February 18, 2023 :

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has released its 13th lot of draft calculation sheet for fixing and revising the ceiling prices of 26 formulations including some of the new additions to the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2022, as part of fixing the ceiling prices of the drugs under the Schedule I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.

The list of drugs for which the Authority has proposed price fixation include diazepam 2 mg tablets, which is proposed to have over 30 per cent cut from the current ceiling price, omeprazol/A2C1 20 mg (31.44%), ramipril 2.5 mg (23.76% reduction), hepatitis B vaccine (19.15% reduction), among others.

Ceiling price of oral rehydration salts, which has a total moving annual turnover of Rs. 132.04 crore, has been fixed at Rs. 0.13, which is 18.75 per cent lower than the current ceiling price of Rs. 0.16 per ml. While it has listed around 50 brands from the product, eight companies have a market share of one percent and above. The MAT value considered for price calculation was Rs. 128.59 crore.

The Authority also proposed a ceiling price for rotavirus vaccine, which has been added newly to the NLEM, 2022, at Rs. 762.14 each vial. Vancomycin capsules 250 mg, propranolol 10 and 20 mg, are among the new drugs for which the ceiling prices have been freshly proposed through the latest lot of proposals.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has notified Revised Schedule-I of Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO) on November 11, 2022 incorporating the NLEM, 2022, which was notified by the ministry of health and family welfare on September 13, 2022. Based on the revised Schedule I, the NPPA is in the process of fixing or revising the ceiling prices of all the scheduled formulations at present.

There are 388 medicines (including 2 animal vaccines and 2 stents) consisting of approximately 954 formulations in the Revised Schedule-I of the DPCO, 2013.

Bhagwanth Khuba, minister of state in the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers recently said in the Lok Sabha that the NPPA has fixed ceiling prices of 400 scheduled formulations under NLEM, 2022 till February 6, 2023 as per the provisions of DPCO, 2013. This has led to an average reduction of 15.39 % in the ceiling prices, he added.

The NPPA has also addressed various issues including capping of the price of new scheduled drugs from the same company with significant inter-brand price variation, at the price of the lowest brand or pack size plus 10 per cent based on the existing reference under the DPCO, 2013. Pharmabiz