-The Business Standard If the Cabinet clears the proposed policy, the Department of Pharmaceuticals would have to notify this before the SC?s next hearing on the matter on Nov 27 The Cabinet is likely to take up the proposed National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy tomorrow, government sources said. The policy is aimed at capping the prices of 348 essential medicines at the weighted average of all drugs in a particular segment, with...

-The Business Standard The move is aimed at having a stringent regulatory system while bringing in uniformity in approach for pricing of drugs  The drug price regulator would now visit manufacturing facilities of pharmaceutical companies while fixing prices of essential medicines. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has issued internal guidelines putting in place norms for verification of actual cost data, provided by companies, through plant visits.  The move is aimed at...

-The Times of India Medicines in India may not be sold under brand names in the near future. In its biggest move to push generic drugs and do away with brand names, the Union health ministry has ordered states to stop issuing licence for the manufacture or sale of drugs on the basis of their brand name. All pharmaceutical firms applying for licence to market or manufacture fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs will...

-The Times of India The Centre on Thursday promised to notify a new drug pricing mechanism for essential medicines by the end of November, but the Supreme Court said a change in policy must not force a sharp rise in drug prices to hurt an already hassled common man. Additional solicitor general Siddharth Luthra informed a bench of Justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya that a Cabinet note on the...

-The Hindu People have to go hungry for paying the medicine bill, says Judge The Union government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it would put in place by mid-November a Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) after the Union Cabinet’s approval. Last week, the Bench asked the government to spell out a time frame within which a new policy would be put in place. On Thursday, Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) Siddarth Luthra told a...