From April 1, there will be a slight rise in the prices of crucial medications such as painkillers, antibiotics, and anti-infectives. The drug pricing regulator has declared an annual adjustment of a 0.0055% increase in the prices of medicines listed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), aligning with the yearly variation in the wholesale price index.
“Based on the WPI data provided by the office of the Economic Advisor, Department of Industry and Internal trade Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the annual change in WPI works out as (+) 0.00551% during the calendar year 2023 over the corresponding period in 2022,” said the notice by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
An industry insider said this is hardly anything to cheer the pharma industry, especially after two massive hikes of 12% and 10% in prices last year and 2022. However, an executive associated with an NGO said that this will be a good move in the interest of maintaining the affordability of these drugs.
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Impact of Rising Input Costs on Medicine Prices
Price changes in medicines are allowed once a year and the pharma industry has been demanding a substantial increase in prices as it has been battling rising input costs.
Industry Experts and said that over the last few years, prices of some key active pharmaceutical ingredients have increased between 15% and 130%, with the price of paracetamol jumping 130% and that of excipients increasing 18-262%.
Glycerine and Propylene Glycol which is used in every liquid preparation including syrups, oral drops, and sterile preparations have become costlier by 263% and 83%, respectively. Similarly, the prices of intermediates have grown between 11% and 175%.
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