India sees insignificant revision to price ceiling in 2024

Supply chain management (SCM) is the regulation of the flow of goods, finances, and information related to products or services spanning from procurement to distribution to the end-users. Efficient SCM practices are important to ensure the timely distribution of the right products in the right quantity at the right place. Furthermore, the Indian pharma supply chain grapples with issues related to counterfeit drugs and supply chain integrity.

Evolution of PMBJP

The challenges are reportedly more pronounced in North-Eastern states and for facilities under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). Given the objective to understand the determinants of access to medicines in the Indian public health system, the CRM reports between 2007 and 2021 were reviewed. Core themes pertaining to medicines were identified and each theme was analysed to deduce the context-specific determinants influencing their availability and accessibility in the public health system. The findings were appraised for relevance and validated for aptness by comparing the recent reports with the former ones to ascertain their contextual underpinnings. Core themes in the Indian Public Health System, their interlinkages and key determinants for ensuring access to medicines are discussed below. As part of its NextGen market-shaping approach, the Global Fund will continue to work with manufacturers to secure a sustainable supply of affordable HIV treatment.

Sun Pharmaceutical: PALENO (Palbociclib)

Generics cost less on average and often prove just as effective, making them a practical choice for budget-conscious consumers. However, trust in brand names and appealing product packaging, especially among younger generations like Gen Z, are affecting purchasing decisions. When choosing between generic and brand-name medications, Americans face decisions influenced by both their wallets and their health needs. With medication costs rising, many are looking for ways to save money without compromising their well-being.

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Among the antidiabetics, cardiovascular and consumables not available on the survey day, 44% and 33% respectively were out of stock for the period of 3–6 months. Nearly 30% of palliative care medicines and vitamins, about 17% of antiasthmatics and consumables were out of stock for a period of 1–3 months. The pharmaceutical industry was once concentrated in Europe and North America, but has spread increasingly into the developing world, where low costs cater to a growing Western pressure. No wonder Palbociclib suppliers in India are looked upon as major game changers for Breast Cancer treatment. As Sun Pharmaceutical has introduced cheap medicines in India, addressing breast cancer has become accessible and affordable.

• With tools like EHR systems and patient portals, they can easily track preferences, share resources, set up payment plans, and discuss treatment options.
• It recently proposed a seismic package of reforms to pharmaceutical and intellectual property regulations — seemingly an attempt to wrestle back some balance between such restrictions and access to medicines in Europe.
• Besides, since April 2017, bioequivalence studies have become an essential requirement for the manufacture of a generic medicine in India [14].
• Special economic zones (SEZs) are popular because they provide tax benefits for companies.
• In India, generic substitution is legally not allowed so patients’ awareness about generics is limited and doctors and patients do not want pharmacist to change the trade name written by doctor.

1 Growth of the sector

There is a concrete risk of confusion in the minds of patients/consumers regarding which drug should be considered due to this price variation. Therefore, price controls were effective at analyzing this price variation and are attempting to decrease the difference even more (Jhanwar and Sharma, 2018). With specific reference to single commercial relationships, the USA and other developed countries are major trade partners as far as exports are concerned, while India depends significantly on imports of APIs from China (Rbi.org.in). More broadly, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has major exports to North America and Europe and major imports from Asia and Europe.

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Through the years, some SCM practices are identified to stand out as desirable and cost-effective. Additionally, the use of IT-based platforms for procurement and inventory management (i.e., storage, quality testing, tracking, monitoring, and allocation based on consumption patterns across the empaneled health facilities) are pivotal for a highly responsive and accountable system. The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health proposed that “developed countries should not encourage developing countries to enter into” free trade agreements with TRIPS-plus measures, and that they should “be mindful of actions which may infringe upon the right to health.” In the same vein, as U.N. System leaders, we supported a 2016 report acknowledging governments’ limited policy space to enact actions regarding access to medicines due to TRIPS-plus measures in trade deals, which undermines their ability to protect the human right to health.

“We spend a lot of time at work; we should enjoy it.”

Although the sector must tackle several issues concerning internal (fragmented) and external (innovative) competition, drug price controls and patent regimes have a significant influence on its effective functioning, which is why the Indian pharmaceutical industry is still mainly concentrated on generic drugs. Although some Indian companies have invested significantly in R&D initiatives, most of them prefer remaining in the business of generic drugs. Because it does not require huge efforts to invent new molecules, there are still numerous small companies that produce the same generic drugs, creating tough competition in the domestic market (Pardhe, 2019). The low availability of medicines at PMBJP outlets reflects the implementation issues faced by the scheme. Nevertheless, the study findings show that PMBJP’s unbranded generics offer great opportunities for substantial cost savings.

Generic drugs – The Indian scenario

The pharmacists, they claimed, will sell noneffective, or highly overpriced drugs once the authority to decide the drug for a given indication is bestowed upon the pharmacists through the policy of compulsory active ingredient prescribing. Nevertheless, they claimed that generic medicines are not as effective as branded medicines. They also believed poor bioavailability is the reason why the price of generic medicines is less than branded medicines. Most of the blockbuster drugs that fuelled Big-Pharma profits over the last two decades went off patent in the last few years, opening the market to generic copies.

Will my doctor automatically prescribe generic drugs?

However, as shown in Table 2, PMBJP medicine list has as many as 130 FDCs in different therapeutic categories. The maximum number of fixed dose formulations listed in PMBJP is for vitamins and micronutrient deficiency followed by gastrointestinal complaints and cardiovascular disorders. As a protectionist tide sweeps across the globe, the Indian pharmaceutical industry needs to continue evolving.

3 Human capital in the patent-based regime

This chapter has been written by a member of GLI’s international panel of experts, who has been exclusively appointed for this task as a leading professional in their field by Global Legal Group, GLI’s publisher. GLI’s in-house editorial team carefully reviews and edits each chapter, updated annually, and audits each one for originality, relevance and style, including anti-plagiarism and AI-detection tools. All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. The study protocol was approved by the School of Health Systems Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Besides, the permission to conduct the study was obtained from Bureau of Public Pharmaceutical Undertakings (BPPI), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India. The informed written consent of study participants’ including the pharmacists of surveyed PMBJP outlets was obtained prior to conducting interviews and reviewing stock records.

Thalix (Thalidomide) price in India

However, pharmaceutical companies may lose interest in the Indian market due to the fixation of prices, which can lead to economic uncertainty since the Indian market is under rigorous pricing laws (Kumar et al., 2020). Another major concern is that medicines are not available where needed due to an inadequate supply chain and to the absence of potential producers that may not be attracted by these restrictions. If there is a lack of proper supply of medicine to the needy, this would be in contradiction with the objectives of social justice (Mrinali, 2013). Thus, the Indian government should take effective measures to better balance the positive and negative effects of DPCO. This study reported the availability, stock-outs and affordability of a basket of essential medicines (unbranded) and consumables in selected PMBJP stores in the districts of Palghar and Mumbai in Maharashtra. Besides affordability, we did cost comparison of unbranded and branded generic equivalents of some commonly used medicines.

The World’s Pharmacy: India’s Generic Drug Industry

More papers with manufacturing and drug testing data were shredded and tucked away in plastic bags under a stairwell, indicating that Intas executives had manipulated data and tried to cover it up. This scale has been essential in driving production efficiencies and achieving the lower sustainable pricing secured today, strengthening country-led efforts to reach all people living with HIV who need TLD. Empowering patients to personalize their healthcare and connecting them to caregivers has the potential to change the care delivery paradigm. Building on a rich history of developing AI for healthcare, IQVIA AI connects the right data, technology, and expertise to address the unique needs of healthcare. By submitting this form, I agree to receive logistics related news and marketing updates from A.

• India, meanwhile, has developed a $15-billion generic-pharmaceutical industry, with labour costs about one-tenth of those in Canada.
• When faced with challenges of infrastructural shortfall to store and dispense medicines, a few states reported adopting alternative measures to ensure the distribution of medicines.
• Effective systems are those which are not only apprised of local and aggregate demands for medicines but also have commensurate capacities to meet the demands.
• Despite the changing dynamics across the global industry, there is a lot to be positive about.
• With over 165,000 providers and 190 million patient records, Tebra is redefining healthcare through innovation and a commitment to customer success.
• She has represented the firm at national and international conferences and conclaves in India and Dubai.
• Further, in order to generate demand for unbranded generic medicines, in 2017, the erstwhile Medical Council of India issued a circular to the medical fraternity to comply with its regulation for prescribing medicines by generic names [14].

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Andrea Curry is an award-winning journalist with over 15 years of storytelling under her belt. She has won multiple awards for her work and is now the head of editorial at The Intake, where she puts her passion for helping independent healthcare practices into action. Inspired by “vertebrae,” our name embodies our mission to be the backbone of healthcare success. With over 165,000 providers and 190 million patient records, Tebra is redefining healthcare through innovation and a commitment to customer success. Electronic health records (EHR) and patient portals make it easier for providers to track patient preferences, allergies, and past prescriptions.

• India’s top pharma firms include Cipla, Aurobindo Pharma,Lupin, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.
• It meets 40% of the generic demand in the US and provides a quarter of all medicines in the UK.
• Table 3 shows the extent of availability of medicine at PMBJP pharmacies across all levels of care in Mumbai and Palghar.
• According to the PBBJP portal, 29 PMBJP pharmacies are currently functional across these two districts.
• The intense pressure to lower prices of generic pharmaceuticals has led to a different global structure.
• China has already demonstrated its willingness to use its economic leverage in peacetime with commodities like rare earths and graphite.
• Interview guides were used to conduct in-depth interviews of physicians and pharmacists.

Although 62% of Americans trust brand-name medications more, nearly 2 in 3 (63%) said they prefer to buy generic drugs. Cost is the primary reason, with 91% citing it as the driving factor, followed by availability (34%). Additionally, 60% said they would prefer to buy brand-name medications but opt for generics because of the lower price. Price-to-patient, retailer mark-up and qualitative analysis of branded and branded-generic medicines. However, intrinsic systemic factors contributing to delays, inaccurate demand estimation and supply of short- expiry medicines cause shortages and stock-out of medicines under the vertical programmes too. Additionally, barriers in communication and coordination between the states, districts, healthcare facilities, and procurement bodies cause duplication of purchases.

Availability of data and materials

As mentioned earlier, overall, mean drug availability was found to be around 51% with highest at PMBJP pharmacies at secondary level of care i.e., at peripheral hospitals (52.5%), followed by tertiary level i.e. medical college (50.8%) and primary level i.e. health post (48.7%). More than 70% of PMBJP pharmacies across all levels of care had the medicines in categories of cardiovascular, analgesics, antacids and vitamins. On the other hand, the availability of antiasthmatic and antipsychotic medicines was very low-only a third of the PMBJP pharmacies had them. Anticancer and electrolyte balancer were not available in more than four-fifth of PMBJP stores, while half of the pharmacies had antimicrobial, antidiabetics, palliative care medicines, anti-epileptics.

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SII separately has a manufacturing agreement with AstraZeneca to produce one billion doses of the Covishield vaccine, which the UK company is developing with the University of Oxford. Another challenge to India is wealthy countries protecting their pharma industries to ensure drug security. In August, President Trump issued an executive order that called for the elimination of drug imports, both as active ingredients and formulations. The price ceiling policy has been in place for more than 20 years, but it has neither been very successful nor free of consequences for pharma companies. Generic drug manufacturers do not have to spend extra money for drug discovery and preclinical and clinical trials. Generics are available at a lower cost; they provide an opportunity for savings in drug expenditure in a country.

Publications

In the fourth edition of the Re-Pharma Summit 2024, panelist Sabina Sawliwala highlighted the differences in costs and logistical difficulties between companies operating in India and more developed economies like the US and Europe. “Our logistics and transportation costs are literally imatinib price in singapore double-digit, whereas if go to America or Europe, these are single-digit costs,” she added. Poor road connectivity, congested ports, and limited cold chain facilities impede the timely and safe delivery of pharmaceutical products, particularly to remote and rural areas.

Regulations to support mandatory generic prescribing and generic substitution by pharmacists are needed. The cardiovascular disease (CVD) treatment market is one of the leading pharmaceutical markets in India, as the country accounts for one-fifth of all cardiovascular-related deaths worldwide. According to national statistics, India’s cardiovascular market was worth $2.52bn in 2022 and is forecast to reach $4.26bn by 2030. Consequentially, there is a strong emphasis on generic CVD drugs over branded drugs due to their affordability.

There is a robust low-cost manufacturing setup available in India, where the industry can produce drugs at a cost that is 40%–50% lower than the rest of the world and sometimes even as much as 90%. There is also a presence of good technical and technological expertise together with the availability of low-cost skilled human resources. The growth of the middle-class population is leading to a new lifestyle, providing a huge market for lifestyle drugs, which are currently the lowest contributor to revenues from the sector.