NPPA Regulates 41 Drug Combinations to Curb Healthcare Costs

• NPPA capped retail prices of 41 drug combinations
• Major pharma firms like Torrent, Glenmark, and Cadila were affected
• Price control also covers acne gel and multivitamin syrups

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed the retail price ceilings on 41 combinations of drugs, including 18 types of Boehringer Ingelheim's widely prescribed diabetes drug, empagliflozin.

This comes after the patent for empagliflozin expired on March 11, spewing its generic forms into the Indian market. The competition, therefore, cut prices by a massive 80–85 percent, prompting the NPPA to step in and control retail prices.

This comes just a month after the NPPA controlled prices of 36 other empagliflozin formulations.

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The new list includes anti-diabetic associations, such as empagliflozin with linagliptin, glimepiride, sitagliptin, and metformin hydrochloride. They are all produced by some of the prominent pharma companies, such as Blue Cross Laboratories, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Cadila, Glenmark, and Alkem Laboratories.

Besides diabetes medications, the new pricing also involves other disease classes. Prominent additions include a topical nicotinamide and clindamycin combined gel that is widely prescribed for acne, iron, folic acid, and cyanocobalamin multivitamins syrup.