More large pharma cos offer higher trade margins over DPCO 2013

Mumbai, 28 Sept 2013: Shortage of essential medicines on retail shelves may be over soon as nine pharma companies in succession over the past two months have agreed to offer higher margins to the retailers and stockists against what has been mandated in the DPCO-2013. AIOCD has been in the process of approaching over 100 companies with similar demands over the past couple of months. Taking cue from Mumbai-based Blue Cross Laboratories Ltd, Franco-Indian Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, RPG Life Sciences, Delcure Life Sciences and Modi Mundipharma, Mumbai based Macleods Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hetero Healthcare Ltd, Indoco Remedies Ltd and FDC Ltd will also offer higher margins of 20 per cent and 10 per cent to retailers and stockists respectively as demanded by trade body All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD).

Parliamentary panel starts scrutiny of Drugs & Cosmetics (Amendment) Bill, 2013

New Delhi, 30 Sept 2013: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has started examining the new Drugs and Cosmetics (amendment) Bill, 2013 which was presented in the Rajya Sabha last month, seeking to centralise the licensing system in 17 categories of drugs. The Panel headed Brajesh Pathak is learnt to have already kicked off the process and took the views of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare recently, after the bill was referred to the committee by the Rajya Sabha.

New drug pricing policy under SC scanner

New Delhi, 4 Oct 2013: The government's new drug pricing policy came under the scanner Thursday as the Supreme Court sought an explanation over the latest pricing formula for essential medicines and questioned if market driven forces had an effect on it. A Bench led by Justice G S Singhvi said it will "test" the rationale behind the new Drug Price Control Order to fix the ceiling price of essential medicines on the basis of average market-based pricing. It demanded an answer on why the new policy, which intends to put a cap on prices of 348 medicines, changed the formula for deciding the cap from a cost-based mechanism to a market price-based mechanism.