Lok Sabha Question No. 3778 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-17
Subject: Scheme by NPPA
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Ajay (Teni) Misra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3778 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17 th  March, 2020

## Scheme by NPPA

## †3778. SHRI AJAY KUMAR MISRA TENI:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  in  view  of  the  rising  prices  of  medicines  in  the  country  the  National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) is formulating any scheme to bring such medicines under price control to make them affordable, especially for the poor; (b)  if  so,  the  time  by  which  the  scheme  is  likely  to  be  implemented  along  with  the extent to which the people are likely to be benefited therefrom; and (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI D. V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

(a) to (c): Yes, Sir.  The  National  Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixes the  ceiling  price  of  scheduled  formulations adopted from  National  List  of  Essential Medicines (NLEM) and new drugs as per the provisions of para 4, 5 and 6 of the Drugs  (Prices  Control)  Order,  2013  (DPCO,  2013).  Further,  the  prices  of  nonscheduled  formulation  are  monitored  so  that  their  MRP  is  not  increased  by  more than 10% of MRP during preceding twelve months.

The NPPA has taken the following steps for making medicines available at affordable price:

(i) NPPA fixed  the  ceiling  prices  of  530  scheduled  formulations  under  NLEM, 2011. The details of reduction in prices of scheduled formulations effected under the DPCO, 2013 as compared to the highest price prevailed prior to the price fixation is as below :

| % reduction with respect to Maximum Price   |   No. of drugs |
|---------------------------------------------|----------------|
| 0<= 5%                                      |             80 |
| 5<=10%                                      |             50 |
| 10<=15%                                     |             57 |
| 15<=20%                                     |             43 |
| 20<=25%                                     |             65 |
| 25<=30%                                     |             49 |
| 30<=35%                                     |             26 |
| 35<=40%                                     |             34 |
| Above 40%                                   |            126 |
|                                             |            530 |

(ii) Further,  Schedule-I  of  the  DPCO,  2013  was  amended  by  adopting  NLEM, 2015. The NPPA has notified the ceiling prices of 866 scheduled formulations under NLEM, 2015. The details of reduction in prices of scheduled formulations  effected under the DPCO, 2013 as compared to the highest price prevailed prior to the price fixation is as below :

| %reduction with respect to Maximum Price   |   No. of formulations |
|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 0<= 5%*                                    |                   237 |
| 5<=10%                                     |                   138 |
| 10<=15%                                    |                    99 |
| 15<=20%                                    |                   100 |
| 20<=25%                                    |                    92 |
| 25<=30%                                    |                    68 |
| 30<=35%                                    |                    46 |
| 35<=40%                                    |                    26 |
| Above 40%                                  |                    60 |
| Total formulations in NLEM, 2015           |                   866 |

(iii) The NPPA fixed prices of 106 Anti-diabetic and Cardiovascular drugs under Para 19 of DPCO, 2013 in Public interest.

(iv) The  NPPA  has  fixed  ceiling  price  of  Cardiac  Stents  being  scheduled formulation under DPCO, 2013 affecting price reduction for Coronary Stents worked out up to 85% for Bare Metal Stents and 74% for Drug Eluting Stents .

(v) The NPPA has fixed ceiling price of Orthopedic Knee Implants under Para 19 of  DPCO,  2013  in  Public  interest  affecting  price  reduction  for  orthopedic  Knee Implants worked out up to be 69%.

(vi) The  NPPA  capped  the  Trade  Margin  of  non-scheduled  formulations  of  42 select  Anti-cancer  medicines  under  'Trade  Margin  Rationalization'  approach  as  a Pilot  for  proof  of  concept,  wherein  price  of  above  500  brands  of  medicines  were reduced upto 90%.

The fixation of prices has resulted in a total saving of Rs. 12,447 crores per annum to the public after implementation of the DPCO, 2013.

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