The government has announced an expansion in the members of the committee focused on pricing reforms in drugs and medical devices, allowing participation from various industry bodies. Among the newly admitted organizations are CII, OPPI, and USISPF, aiding in the discussion of institutional reforms within NPPA and strategies to ensure a balance between essential medicine pricing and availability while providing growth incentives to the industry.
Anil Matai, the Director General of OPPI, emphasized the importance of involving a diverse group of stakeholders to achieve a fair approach toward reviewing prices in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors. The committee's mandate includes exploring ways to establish a price moderation framework for medical devices and offer incentives to the medtech industry to reduce imports, as stated by an industry source familiar with the matter.
Rajiv Nath, the Forum Coordinator of AIMED, expressed satisfaction with the government's decision to look into regulations concerning drug prices, now extending the review scope to encompass medical devices as well. Nath stressed the necessity of separate rules for medical devices compared to pharmaceuticals, advocating for regulations that prevent companies from artificially inflating prices on medical device labels to ensure fair competition based on product value, rather than inflated prices.