The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has broadened the consultation process for framing the new pricing policy for drugs and medical devices, by including several industrial bodies and other stakeholders in the panel for the policy review.
As per DoP, the department has received requests from various industry associations for their inclusion in the committee. “It has been decided to broaden the list of special invitee and additionally include the representatives of the pharma and MediTech associations in the committee,” said the DoP notification.
On March 12, DoP has announced a five-member committee, including two special invitees from Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) and Indian Drugs Manufacturer’s Association (IDMA) to draft a new Drugs and Medical Devices (Control) Order (DPCO) that will replace the existing DPCO 2013.
The new member list include representatives from associations like Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), Medical Technology Association of India (MTal), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), US India Business Council (USIBC), Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) and others.
“The Indian government’s plans to review the regulations for controlling drug prices and medical devices is a welcome step. As the main association for the medical device industry, we can add value and bring new perspective to the discussion. We believe that medical devices need separate rules. We have been asking for rules that stop companies from artificially raising prices on medical devices. This practice hurts genuine manufacturers and marketing companies. Instead, we want fair competition based on the real value of the products,” said Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator, AiMeD.
Since mid-March, the MediTech players have been raising concerns around the price controls on medical devices. They argue that it may deter companies to invest in innovation and will disincentivise the foreign players to bring new life-saving equipment in the country.
By adding more members into the committee list, the industry associations feel that they will get a fair chance to put across their point of view. Though some 400 molecules and 960 formulations have price ceilings at the moment, there’s just a handful of medical devices that come under price controls.
