Centre Cancels Study on Drug Pricing Policies of China, US, EU Due to 'Administrative Exigencies'

The Modi government has canceled the plan to initiate a study on global drug pricing policies to make medicines affordable in India, News18.com has learnt.

Citing “administrative exigencies”, in a notice issued on February 21, the drug price watchdog, National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority — a department under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers — announced the cancellation.

The department had, in January, rolled out a tender in search for a reputable company that could conduct the study on behalf of the government.

“NPPA has decided to cancel the Request for Proposal (RFP) for conducting the study entitled as ‘To study the drug pricing policies of different countries/ region and lessons learnt from these countries/ regions in terms of access to medicine at affordable prices’ due to administrative exigencies,” said the notice issued by NPPA, accessed by News18.com.

The notice did not elaborate further on the reasons for canceling the study, which was deemed to be in the right direction and proposed to study the drug pricing policies of at least 10 countries, including China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the United States.

A senior government official told News18.com that “the NPPA may conduct its own internal study instead of hiring an external agency. More departments can be tagged along with NPPA to conduct an analysis”.

The objective of the research, as per the RFP, reported by News18.com in January, was to understand the drug pricing methodology adopted in the international market and the best practices from various countries (or regions) in terms of the availability and affordability of medicine.

The deadline to submit the proposal was February 21, while shortlisted bidders were slated to be called for presentation on March 1.

The latest notice stated that “all bidders who have submitted their bids in response to the said RFP are requested to collect their bid documents personally by visiting the NPPA office/ undersigned”.

It said the bidders are requested to ensure that the representative, who is coming to collect the documents, is carrying a letter authorizing him/her to collect the documents on behalf of their organisation.

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