Medical device firms for self-imposed price cap
Intra-ocular lens majors meet NPPA after price limit set on coronary stents
Rattled by regulatory intervention on prices, intraocular lens manufacturers on Monday met the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). Orthopaedic implant manufacturers, too, will meet the NPPA this week. This comes after the NPPA capped the prices of coronary stents. All these devices are under the ambit of the regulator. VEENA MANI reports
Rattled by regulatory intervention on prices, intraocular lens manufacturers on Monday met the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
Orthopaedic implant manufacturers, too, will meet the NPPA this week.
This comes after the NPPA capped the prices of coronary stents.
All these devices are under the ambit of the regulator. In February, the NPPA slashed the prices of coronary stents by 85 per cent. This has brought about a change in the thinking of medical device manufacturers.
The NPPA has capped the prices of 18 per cent of industry products.
The chief executive officer of a multinational device maker said, “The price cap on coronary stents has shaken us. We would opt for self-regulation than having the NPPA reduce prices like this.”
Domestic manufacturers of medical devices have written to the department of pharmaceuticals (DoP), saying they would like to bring down the prices of devices that are non-scheduled but come under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013.
The Order gives the NPPA the direction to control the prices of drugs that are in Schedule 1 and monitor the prices of drugs that are not scheduled. Further, the Order also gives the NPPA the powers to fix the prices of non-scheduled drugs in the interests of the consumer.
“There are fundamental issues in considering the DPCO, 2013, for fixing the prices of drugs,” says Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator, Association of Indian Medical Devices Industry (AIMED).
He said there were multiple distribution patterns for medical devices. Further, there are many kinds of intra-ocular lenses or orthopaedic implants. Thus, a blanket order does not work.
“We would rather bring down our prices and ensure that margins are reasonable. We have written to the department but haven't heard from them on our proposal,” he said.
Intra-ocular lenses are of three kinds: Rigid plastic, foldable and refractive lenses. According to estimates, 15 per cent intra-ocular lenses are imported while the rest are manufactured in India.
Companies that manufacture these lenses are Bausch and Lomb, Auro Laboratories, Johnson and Johnson, and Novartis.
Hassled by the way in which the NPPA has been fixing prices of drugs to date, lobbies of pharmaceutical companies are of the view that the DoP should constitute a technical advisory board including industry representatives.
Deepnath Roychoudhry, president, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA), said:
“Sometimes there is misinterpretation of the DPCO, 2013. Further, not all doses of the same drug are the same. A plain-coated tablet is different from an extended release tablet. Hence it deserves better pricing.”
The IDMA is an industry body that has representations from large companies.
In response to the demand raised by the pharmaceutical industry, the DoP has sought justification for its stand.