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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Dec. 27

CONSUMERS could soon be paying less for some antibiotic medicines while prices for drugs used to treat eye infection and TB could become dearer.

This is mainly because of the revision in price of bulk drugs by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).

The authority has revised downwards the cost of three bulk drugs - Sodium Penicillin G, Procaine Penicillin G and Benzathine Penicillin G. However, the cost of three other drugs -- Pheniramie Maleate (used to make redness reliever eye drops), Trimethoprim (used to treat infection of the urinary tract) and Rifampicin (most frequently used to treat Tuberculosis) have been revised upwards.

An official statement issued by NPPA states that after detailed cost and techno-economic study, the price of Sodium Penicillin G has been reduced to Rs 824 per billion units (BU) from Rs 1,207 per BU while the price of Procaine penicillin G has been reduced to Rs 971 from Rs 1,357 per BU. Similarly, the price of Benzathine Penicillin G has been lowered to Rs 2,055 per kg from Rs 2,469 per kg.

However, the prices of medicines based on the bulk drug Pheniramie Maleate will go up by 1-2 per cent, while those based on the bulk drug Trimethoprim would increase by 4-5 per cent and those of Rifampicin-based medicines are likely to go up by about 2 per cent, the statement adds.

This is mainly because the prices of these bulk drugs have been revised upwards. While the price of Pheniramine Maleate that has been increased to Rs 1,107 per kg from the existing Rs 1,068 per kg, the price of Trimethoprim has increased to Rs 840 per kg from Rs 700 per kg. Similarly, the price of Rifampicin has been revised to Rs 3,560 from the earlier price of Rs 3,480.

The statement adds that the increase in prices is mainly due to rise in cost of input raw materials.

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