The Hindu Business Line : 886 drugs to be cheaper from tomorrow

Proposed legislation
A new Act has been proposed to have effective control on prices, production, distribution and supply of medicines
A 14-member joint committee with representatives from the industry and the Ministry are currently deliberating on the issue

New Delhi , Oct. 31

Effective November 2, the prices of a large number of drugs including antibiotics and anti-diabetic drugs, cough syrups, pain killers as well as those used during surgery, infectious diseases, hyper-tension, dermatological medicines, eye drops, hormones and gastrointestinal medicines would come down.

The price reduction would range between 2 and 75 per cent, the Minister for Chemicals, Fertilisers and Steel, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, announced here on Tuesday.

The Minister released a list of 886 commonly used medicines whose prices have come down following reduction in their wholesale and retail trade margins.

Some of the drugs are Ibuprofen, Diclofenac, paracetamol, chloroquine, Albendazole, Ampicilin, Amoxycilin, Cephalexin, Ciprofloxacin, Amlodipine, Atenolol, Enalapril, Losartan, Nifedipine etc. The list also includes Sulphadiazine, Gentamicin andProgsetirone.

The new margins have been fixed at 15 per cent for wholesalers, 35 per cent for retailers, calculated on the over the cost of manufacturing of generic medicines, Mr Paswan said.

The prices have been reduced voluntarily by 11 leading drug manufacturers and cover nearly 100 types of basic drugs.

The companies that have agreed to the price cuts are Alembic, Cadila, Wockhardt, Emcure, Unichem, Ranbaxy, Lupin, Nicholas Piramal, Cipla, Alkem and Medely.

The Minister said a new Act, known as Drugs (Prices Regulation and Control) Act is proposed to be enacted to have effective control on prices, production, distribution and supply of medicines.