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 The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced the draft version of calculation of ceiling price for seven formulations including pneumococcal vaccine 0.5ml, oral rehydration salts (ORS), and cloxacillin 250 mg and 500 mg capsules, for the response from the stakeholders.
The release of draft calculation sheets are based on the revised Schedule I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013, based on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2022. The latest release is the 19th set of calculation sheets shared by the NPPA seeking response from the stakeholders within 10 days from the publication of the draft version in the Authority's website.
According to the draft sheet, the price of pneumococcal vaccine per vial of 0.5 ml, the price has been calculated at Rs. 2,689.32, after considering the minimum and maximum price of the vaccine in the market. The minimum price is Rs. 1,473 per unit, for Pneumosil from Serum Institute of India, and the maximum price is Rs. 3,192.84 per unit for Prevnar 13 and Prevnar 6, from Pfizer Ltd.
The Moving Annual Turnover (MAT) of pneumococcal vaccine in the country is around Rs. 168.67 crore, with four major players having more than one percent market share. The other players in the product category include GlaxoSmithkline Pharmaceuticals, MSD Pharmaceuticals, Lupin and Biological E.
Ceiling price of ORS has been increased by 13.51 per cent, to Rs. 0.96 per gram, as compared to the current ceiling price of Rs. 1.11 per gram. The MAT of ORS in the country is around Rs. 435.56 crore, with around 67 packs considered by the NPPA for the pricing process. There are around seven major players having more than one percent cent market share for the product in the country, which has been considered by the NPPA for the ceiling price fixing.
Some of the major players in the market for the product include Cipla, Zydus Cadila, FDC, Lupin, Procter & Gamble Health, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Alkem Laboratories, among others.
Price of 5-amino salicylic acid (mesalazine/mesalamine) 400 mg tablets has been proposed at Rs. 7.91 per tablet, which is 15.03 per cent compared to the present ceiling price of Rs. 9.31 per tablet.
Price of antibiotic agent cloxacillin 250 mg and 400 mg tablets has been fixed at Rs. 1.41 per capsule and Rs. 7.91 per crore respectively, without any change in the prices compared to the current ceiling prices.
The Authority has recently said that it has notified revised ceiling prices of 923 scheduled formulations with effect from April 1, 2024, in tune with the change in terms of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) announced in the end of March, 2024, for the preceding calendar year of 2023 over the year 2022. The prices have been revised to the tune of 0.00551 per cent from the beginning of April, 2024.
The Central government has also clarified that based on the WPI factor of a positive growth of 0.00551%, there will be no change in the prevailing ceiling prices for 782 medicines and the existing ceiling prices for these medicines will continue to prevail up to March 31, 2025. Further, 54 medicines with ceiling price ranging from Rs. 90 to Rs. 261 will have a miniscule increase of Rs. 0.01.
"As the permissible price increase is miniscule, the companies may or may not avail this increase. Thus, in the year FY 2024-25, there will be almost no change in the ceiling price of medicines based on WPI," it added earlier this month.
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