ISLAMABAD: The federal government has reportedly decided to increase prices of medicines through upward revision in the threshold of lower price of drugs under CPI Index and reduce Minimum Retail Prices (MRPs) of Remdesivir 100mg injection from Rs9,244 to Rs.5,680.
Sharing the details, sources said, Section 12 of the Drugs Act, 1976 and Section 7 of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Act, 2012 empower the Federal Government to fix or review the MRPs of drugs to be sold in the market. Furthermore, drugs price fixation mechanism has been detailed in Drug Pricing Policy 2018 and amended with the approval of Federal Government through notification of July15, 2020.
According to information shared by Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh it is expected that the price may come down to $50-55 depending on change in the processing of raw material. Price of Remdesivir Lyophilized powder for injection 100 mg/injection solution 100 mg vial will be reviewed as soon as the relevant information in price change is shared by the High Commission of Dhaka. DRAP will keep regular liaison with High Commission of Dhaka in this regard". On July 14, 2020 Commercial Secretary, Pakistan High Commission Dhaka informed DRAP that price of Remdesivir has fallen to $ 55. A meeting of the Policy Board - DPAP was held on August 17, 2020 to consider the information and recommended the reduction of NRPs of Remdesivir 100mg injection from 10,873 to Rs.9,244 under Section 12(8) of the Drug Pricing Policy - 2018. Accordingly, the MRPs of Remdesivir 100mg injection was reduced from Rs.10,873 to Rs.9,244.
Commercial Secretary, Pakistan High Commission Dhaka has now informed DRAP that price of Remdesivir has fallen to $ 35 per vial for order of 500 or more vials for Pakistan (CIF Karachi). The Policy Board in its 34th meeting held on November 9, 2020 considered the matter and recommended further reduction in the Maximum Retail Prices of Remdesivir 100mg injection from Rs.9,244 to Rs.5,680 per vial under Section 12(8) of the Drug Pricing Policy - 2018.
The sources further stated that paragraph 10 (2) of the Drug Pricing Policy - 2018 (amended vide notification July 15, 2020), provides that the drugs whose Maximum Retail Prices are less than the following threshold shall be deemed to be other drugs even otherwise falling under the category of essential drugs to encourage their production: (i) Rs. 3.11/- per tablet/capsule /respule/caplet;(ii) Rs. 3.11/- 5ml of syrup/ suspension/elixir; (iii) Rs. 3.11/- perpatch; (iv) Rs. 6.21/- per sachet; (v) Rs. 15.53/- per injection; (vi) Rs. 3.11/- per gm of cream/ointment/gel (non-sterile) subject to maximum pack size of 20gm and ;(vii) Rs. 4.14/- per l gm of cream/ointment/gel(sterile) subject to maximum pack size of 20gm; (viii) Rs. 4.14/- per ml of eye/care/nasal drops/nasal spray/inhalation solution (sterile) subject to maximum pack size of 10ml.
Paragraph 10(2) of the Drug Pricing Policy - 2018 stipulates that threshold limit of lower priced drugs shall be increased to equal Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The PBS has published the following CPI for the financial year 2019-20. The proposed revised threshold limits per tablet/capsule/respule/caplet; 5ml of syrup/suspension/elixir and patch are expected to be increased from Rs. 3.11 to Rs 3.71 as per CPI 2019-20; (iv) price of per sachet will be increased from Rs. 6.21 to 7.41 (v) price of per injection will be increased from Rs. 15.53 to Rs 18.52; (vi) price of per gm of cream/ointment/gel (non-sterile) subject to maximum pack size of 20gm will be increased from 3.11 to Rs 3.71 per gem and; (vii) price of per l gm of cream/ointment/gel(sterile) subject to maximum pack size of 20gm and (viii) price of cream per ml of eye/care/nasal drops/nasal spray/inhalation solution (sterile) will be increased to Rs 4.94 from Rs 4.44.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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