The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Wednesday denied the request for withdrawal of medical devices by Abbott Healthcare and India Medtronic.

In an official statement, NPPA said, “There is no provision under the Drugs Price Control Order, 2013, under which such withdrawal is permissible.”

The NPPA also advised Abbott Healthcare and India Medtronic to be “more cautious and responsible in such business decisions in the light of government’s commitment to ensure affordability of all essential drugs to the people.”

In its representation to the NPPA, India Medtronic had requested the withdrawal of Resolute Onyx stents.

Abbott Healthcare had requested to withdraw the Xience Alpine Medical devices and Absorb BVS Medical device (cardiac stent).

According to a notification issued by the NPPA, prices of drug eluting stent was fixed at ₹29,600, while that of bare metal stents will stand at ₹7,260. In comparison, the prices of drug eluting stents ranged between ₹40,000 and ₹1.98 lakh. Similarly, bare metal stents cost patients between ₹30,000 and ₹75,000 on an average.

In the order on the request for withdrawal of stents, the NPPA took note of the government order on pricing dated February 21 wherein it invoked its powers under Para 3 of the DPCO 2013 and directed the companies to maintain uninterrupted supplies for six months from the date of the order.

The companies have also been placed under the obligation to provide a weekly report on coronary stents produced and distributed in the country along with a weekly production plan to the NPPA.

The NPPA notes that the status check taken from the Monitoring and Enforcement Division reveals that the companies had neither complied with the directives of the government, nor submitted weekly reports.

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