DoP Rejects Wockhardt's Pricing Review Petitions
The Department of Pharmaceuticals made the decision to reject three review petitions that were filed by Wockhardt, addressing a dissatisfying receipt of their drug prices being fixed by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. The DoP stated that the Wockhardt Company is required to comply with the regulations fixed by the NPPA.
The petitions filed by the drug maker referenced three of their products; insulin injections, povidone iodine ointment, which is sold under recognizable names such as Betadine and Wokadine, and antiseptic solutions, which are sold as a preventative treatment for infections. According to the reasons given in the petition by Wockhardt, the company was concerned with the way in which prices were regulated for their products. The NPPA regulates prices based on the product’s retail pricing. Wockhardt, however, also sells the products to hospitals at a direct price. The regulations did not address this, and thus a review petition was filed.
The department held a hearing for the first two petitions on April 9, 2013, and later disposed of the petition. In response, the Department of Pharmaceuticals stated that the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), introduced by the NPPA in 2013, effectively only regulated retail prices captured by IMS and that the prices issued to hospitals were not in line with provisions of DPCO. According to the DoP response to Wockhardt’s insulin petition, the company was urged to reconsider pricing of their product within 60 days based upon the most recent data available.
The final order of the DoP stated, “However, based on the review order passed earlier in similar other cases of review against the said impugned order, an opportunity was given by NPPA to all the manufacturers/importers of the drug to give presentation on insulin formulations manufactured/imported by them and considering the data/information received from them NPPA has already revised the prices of relevant insulin formulations vide notification No. S.O.1540(E) dated 14.6.2013 in supersession of the impugned notification S.O. No.1734(E) dated 16.11.2012. The above mentioned review application of the Petitioners against S.O. No.1734(E) dated 16.11.2012 is accordingly treated as disposed off.”
Source - http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=79716&sid=1