Pharmaceutical industries highlighted their concerns about the implementation of the new drug price control order and sought more transparency in the pricing mechanism during an interaction with Central Government officials on Friday.

At the meeting, convened by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) at the Delhi Institute of Management, the Government assured the industries that their concerns would be addressed while implementing the price control order.

“The meet provided a healthy platform for direct interaction between various manufacturers and stakeholders of the drug, pharma and healthcare sectors with Government regulators,” said V.M. Bansal of the Delhi Institute of Management.

Industry representatives sought clarifications from the Government on the margin of profit.

They said the margin had to be commensurate with the amount of research done by the company and product quality.

They also urged the Centre to consider increasing the prices of several products.

Senior officials from the NPPA and Drug and Pharmaceuticals Department participated in the discussions.

“It was an exercise to know the concerns of the industries. The Government will address all the issues while implementing the DPCO,” said an NPPA official.

> jigeesh.am@thehindu.co.in

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