Ashley Grace
Prior to the launch of GST on Just 1st 2017, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority made an announcement regarding the ceiling prices of about 761 medicine which include cancer treating drugs, many antibiotics, diabetes and HIV medicines. Bhupendra Singh, the chairman of NPPA, said that in order to facilitate efficient execution of GST for Indian companies, they have planned out the provisional ceiling prices of 761 medicine.
NPPA has also asked the pharmaceutical companies to look through the list of the medicine and revert back by June 29th if there are some corrections to be made.
Although, the drug regulator informed that the prices would be announced after the proper launch of GST. The price change subsequent to the launch of the new indirect tax scheme is supposed to be in the range of about 2-3 percent which will mainly depend on the states.
Ceiling prices of different anti-cancer drugs such as Gemcitabine, Docetaxel, and Bortezomib have reduced significantly decreased in the provisional list. The price of Bortezomin has been put at Rs. 11, 160.08 per medicine packet which is a drop from Rs 11,636.60. The cap price of a Docetaxel packed has been deciding at Rs 10,326.94 which is Rs 10,767.88 presently. At the same time, the ceiling price of Gemcitabine is fixed at Rs 4,813.94 which was Rs 5,019.49. The price of Trastuzumab injection which is a breast cancer treatment drug will come down to Rs 54,582.25 which was earlier Rs 56,912.83 per packet. The price of HIV medicine such as Tenofovir, Lamivudine, and Efavirenz will come down to Rs 89.69 per tablet which as earlier Rs 93.52 per tablet.
The ceiling price of HIV medicine Darunavir has been decided at Rs 151.4 which was earlier Rs 157.93. The cap price of Zidovudine and Lamivudine has been fixed at Rs 18.20 which is presently Rs 18.98. The cost of Metformin, a diabetes drug has also seen a reduction of Rs 3.31 in its current price.
