What is hurting Indian pharma more—misinformation or price control?

The industry body is lashing out at the regulator for stifling a growing industry. But the members say the drug companies are doing just fine

In hushed tones, senior executives of some of the largest pharmaceutical companies say that they want to work with the regulator and abide by the law but Dilip G Shah has taken the conflict very personally

The public posturing of the IPA, which is in sharp contrast to its own report, shows the extent of the misinformation being floated

The industry agrees that in the last three years, price regulation has affected them only marginally, not nearly enough to reverse the growth

To look into the matter, the DoP has set up a committee, whose objective is to ensure enhanced access to drugs and a streamlined price control mechanism

On 13 April, a day before the Easter weekend, many drug manufacturers went on their breaks feeling a little agitated but mostly helpless. It was the day, the spokesperson of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), representing its (invite only) members—over 20 large companies including Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, Lupin and Cipla—went public with his anger.

Dilip G Shah referred to the pricing policy roll-out as “arbitrary”, and compliance to guidelines “difficult”. Shah claimed these two factors were adding to the “woes” of the drug industry.

With their morning coffee, manufacturers and the drug regulator read Shah’s opinion piece.

AUTHOR

Ruhi Kandhari

Ruhi writes on the impact of healthcare policies, trends in the healthcare sector and developments on the implementation of Electronic Health Records in India. She has an M. Sc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

View Full Profile