India greenlights 50% price hike for 21 drug formulations

Many drug manufacturers were on the brink of product discontinuation due to rising operating costs.

India’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced on 13 December that it has approved a one-time 50% upward revision in the ceiling prices of 21 formulations, according to apress release.

The drug price regulatory has been receiving applications from manufacturers regarding upward price revisions for the last two years, citing that drug production and marketing are growing less feasible due to increasing API and production costs as well as rise in exchange rates.

The drugs in the approved list all function as a first line of treatment, such as the anti-tuberculosis BCG Vaccine, antibiotic Benzathine benzylpenicillin, and Malaria medication Chloroquine.

The mandate to expand the ceiling price is to ensure that the essential drugs remain available to the general public, said NPPA.