33 drugs placed under revised price control list

Sanjay Sardana

New Delhi, Jan 6: Some of the top selling drugs of multinational pharmaceutical companies like Novartis Hoechst Marion, Wyeth Lederle, Knoll Pharma, SmithKline Beecham Pharma, German Remedies and Pfizer are being brought under drug price control order (DPCO).

In the revised list of 33 drugs to be brought under price control, 20 are new additions, while 13 are from the existing list of 74 drugs already under price control.

According to industry sources, the note on new drug policy will be soon sent to the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) for clearance. As per the new criteria, molecules with a turnover of over Rs 20 crore for the year ended March 2001 will be brought under the price control if one company has a market share of over 50 per cent. Further, in case of monopoly drugs where a company has a market share of over 90 per cent, the turnover limit has been raised to Rs 5 crore from Rs 1 crore.

The overall span of control in case of these 33 drugs is expected to be a little over 20 per cent against 38-39 per cent earlier. Among the new additions to the price control list are hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines, diclofenac, povidone iodine, glibenclamide, piroxiam, amikacin, metformin, phenytoin, hydroxyprogesterone, cefaclor, cofuroxime, ofloxacin, noscaprine, and norethisterone. These molecules are now being brought under the price control and some of the leading brands for these molecules include Voveran, Betadine, Daonil, Dolonex, Mikacin and Eptoin.

Sources said hepatitis A and B vaccine has been brought under price control at the behest of health ministry as these vaccines do not fall under the ministry’s purchase programme.

Some of the Indian pharma companies including IPCA Laboratories, Infar and Win Medicare will also be affected by the new drug policy as some of the new additions to the DPCO list include drugs where these companies command a market share of over 50 per cent.

At the same time, exclusion of vitamins, ciprofloxacin, ranitidine etc will help some other domestic companies. Pharma majors like Ranbaxy, Cipla and Dr Reddy’s labs will not be affected much, as the drugs under control for these companies will come down.

Among the molecules, which will remain under the price control include erythromycin, betamethasone, norfloxacin, chloroquine, prednisolone, ibuprofen, glipizide, framyeetin and pentazocine. These molecules are sold under leading brands like Althrocin, Betnesol, Norflox, Lariago, Wysolone, Brufen, Glynase and Soframycin.

Novartis will be one of the most affected companies as diclofenac (molecule), sold under brand Voveran and contributing annually Rs 67 crore to the company’s revenues, has been added to the list. The total market size of the molecule is Rs 130 crore and Novartis has a market share of 51.3 per cent.

Win Medicare’s Betadine accounts for an annual turnover of Rs 37 crore and the total market for the molecule, povidone iodine is Rs 61 crore.

Similarly, Hoechst’s Daonil with an annual sales of Rs 44 crore has a market share of 77.4 per cent of the Rs 57 crore glibenclamide market, which is now being brought under the price control.