Pharmaceutical pricing policy and control: Indian perspective

Abstract

Objective: Pharmaceutical sector is playing a key role toward the wellness of the people and economic development of India. The innovation, development, production, and marketing of medicines are accountable to the pharmaceutical industry. It is the duty of the government to ensure the availability of the lifesaving drugs at reasonable prices by means of considering the interest of both the producers and the buyers. To safeguard the public health, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is the watchdog in India, which controls the prices of drugs. The main objective of this study is to ascertain the various roles played by the NPPA, to control the prices of the drugs in India. Methods: Data and information about “Revenue of Indian Pharmaceutical Sector,” Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industry in India, NPPA, and Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) were collected and used for this study. This study is based on the information from various secondary sources. Results: In India, prices of the medicines are controlled, and price maximum for the essential medicines are set by the Indian government using DPCO. List of drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) is expanded. In India, NPPA controls the prices of NLEM and also controls the price increases of non-essential medicines. Conclusion: Pharmaceutical companies can think of reducing the expenses to reduce the cost of drugs to comply with the government drug pricing policy. To ensure the affordability of medicines along with the pricing policy, the Indian government may look and concentrate on the other important areas of pharmaceutical sectors.