The cost of these branded medicines will be reduced by up to 50%, what is the reason for this?

Medicines that have lost their patent may come down in price by up to 50%, and after a year the MRP will change with the change in the Wholesale Price Index.

As soon as patent protection is lost in the country, the price of patented medicines will be halved or it will reach the verge of patent closure, which will give a lot of relief to the patients. The price of a drug that has lost its patent may come down by up to 50%, and after a year the MRP will change with the change in the Wholesale Price Index. This will give a lot of relief to the common people. Because the government has amended the Drug Price Control Order. New prices of medicines will be fixed after the patent protection is over.

In fact, usually once a drug loses its monopoly globally, prices come down by up to 90% with the entry of generic versions. The government's decision provides clarity on the prices that multinational pharma majors can charge on blockbuster drugs that are going off patent. This has been a tricky issue for the past few years with multinational companies and the government being unable to resolve it.

Prices of medicines will come down

Over the past few years, prices of popular anti-diabetic drugs including vildagliptin and sitagliptin and cardiac drugs including valsartan have crashed after losing their monopoly. Subsequently, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority also fixed ceiling prices of the two drugs to improve their affordability and access.

In addition, after the patent expires, high-quality generics can enter the market to help reduce health care costs and improve access to drugs. The cost per tablet (drug) for patients is reduced, and the market shifts to a more affordable treatment, which can then be prescribed to a larger group of patients. This is a high volume and high growth market for innovative drugs in general.

Policy not confirmed for patent medicines

Please tell that due to variation in ideas for patent medicines, the policy has not been confirmed yet. In the past, the government constituted several committees to develop a price system and discussed various methods, including negotiation and reference pricing. Experts have also expressed the view that even after negotiations, the price of patent medicines will remain high for a large population, which will be difficult for them to buy.