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Thursday, Nov 09, 2006
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Pharmaceuticals Government - Policy Generic drugs price cut: Paswan sets Nov 15 deadline Our Bureau
Affordable drugs The industry could cut its margins to make essential drugs more affordable, says the Minister. The Government planning to bring in a new Drug Prices Regulation and Control Act. It is in the process of finalising a new Petrochemical Policy
Mumbai , Nov. 8 The Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, on Wednesday set a deadline of November 15 for the pharmaceutical industry to keep its word on slashing prices of certain generic drugs to make them more affordable to the common man. Failure by the industry to meet this deadline would prompt the Government to take stringent measures, such as making the industry's promise legally binding by issuing necessary notifications. Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the IndiaChem Conference here, the Minister came down heavily on the pharma industry for reneging on its assurance to bring down prices of some 886 generic drugs. "They had sought time till November 2 to implement the price cut, but there has been no impact yet at the ground level. We will wait till November 15, before we take action. I can say that the Government has enough hatyar (weapons) to deal with such instances of going back on an assurance," he said.
Cap retail margins
The Minister said the Government's intention was to make drugs more affordable to the common man, even while keeping the interests of the industry in mind. The industry could cut its margins to make essential drugs more affordable, he said. He added that the industry had submitted a list of 886 drugs on which it would impose a cap of 15 per cent on the wholesale and 35 per cent on the retail margins to bring their prices down. Mr Paswan said the industry was totting up profits on the maximum retail prices instead of cost of production. He said if the industry failed to bring down prices of these drugs by November 15, the Government could issue a notification that would make it legally binding on the industry. "We can also initiate other forms of actions through the Drug Price Control Order," he pointed out.
New act planned
He said the Government was planning to bring in a new Drug Prices Regulation and Control Act. The Drug Price Control Order would be issued under this Act and not the Essential Commodities Act, he said. He added that the proposed Act would provide for compounding of offences and better enforcement of pricing policy. Earlier, in his inaugural address at the conference, Mr Paswan said the Government was in the process of finalising a new Petrochemical Policy that would aim at giving a boost to sustainable development of the industry, as also provide a road-map for increasing consumption of plastics, while addressing environmental concerns. A policy for setting up Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Regions (PCPIRs) was also under active consideration, he said. He added that these regions would be spread over an area of 250 sq. km and would mostly come up near the ports. On the pharma industry, he said the annual turnover of the industry had touched $12 billion and in the next five years it was projected to reach $25 billion.
Related Stories: More Stories on : Pharmaceuticals | Policy
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