If the government is serious about Make in India for Active pharmaceutical ingredients and boosting R&D spending by pharmaceutical companies, it needs to stay away from price controls as a policy measure. Discuss (200 Words)
Refer - Financial Express
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Vidya S 5 years
Kindly review it
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· The government is mulling over excluding medicines made from locally manufactured active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)—the key raw material for the production of a drug—from price control.
· The move is aimed at pushing manufacture of APIs in India to reduce import dependence. The move, if implemented and to the desired effect, would be a boost for Indian pharma.
· In Financial Year 2019, Indian pharma companies imported bulk drugs and intermediates worth $2.4 million from China.
· The irony is the government had all along known how price control was affecting domestic manufacture.
· Indeed, Indian manufacturers had gotten more and more export focused, with their offerings in India accounting for an increasingly smaller portion of their revenues over the years.
· In the Draft Pharmaceuticals Policy 2017, the government had noted that PSUs were doing a good job of producing raw materials/intermediates in the 1950s-60s.
· Also accepted that import dependence had grown because of its price controls so the Drug Price (Display & Control) Order 1966 put 18 APIs (raw materials) under price control from 1996.
· Therefore imported APIs and Intermediates started becoming hugely lucrative as a price cap on drugs forced the manufacturers to obtain the cheapest raw material with the basic minimum efficacy/quality.
· Yet, it had called for price controls to stay citing high out-of-pocket costs for drugs. The government, in the draft policy, also emphasised on the fact that pharma companies were more focused on generic formulations than R&D.
· It should have long realised that, unless price controls go summarily and companies’ profits grow, investment in R&D will remain thin.
· To keep medicines affordable for the masses, it must subsidise through bulk purchases for its Jan Aushadhi and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) outlets.
Anu 5 years
Kindly review. Thank you.
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good answer. Keep Writing.
musabbir 5 years
Please Review sir. Sorry for the late submit
IAS Parliament 5 years
Need better understanding.Try to underline key points, include about imports of APIs from China, role of AMRIT outlets and Jan aushadhi centres. Keep Writing.
Deepesh 5 years
Pls review
Deepesh 5 years
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Try to include about role of AMRIT outlets. Keep Writing.
IAS Parliament 5 years
Key points will be posted after few days. Keep Following.
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