Consumers looking for Crocin Advance can hope to find it back in supply at chemist shops in states like Maharashtra.
The popular fever and pain medicine from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare had gone off the market in the State, after the local drug regulator had raised concerns of over-charging on the drug that comes within the Government’s price-control net.
The price-control issue witnessed in few states (like Kerala) had threatened to flare-up into a full-blown controversy across the country, as the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration asked the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for clarity on whether the locally innovated Crocin Advance should be exempted from price control.
The NPPA has ruled otherwise and GSK has now said that it will reduce the price, in line with the Government norm. The prices are now expected to come down by half, though it is unclear whether supplies will get disrupted across the country as it replaces the existing medicine with those sporting the revised price.
Earlier, a Maharashtra FDA official told Business Line that the price of paracetamol fixed under the Drug Price Control Order (2013), was 94 paise for a tablet (₹9.40 for a 10-tablet strip), but GSK sold Crocin Advance at ₹20 a strip.
In its communication, the company said: “GlaxoSmithKline Asia Pvt Ltd (GSKAP) has received a response from the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) on the application seeking exemption for Crocin Advance Paracetamol Fast Release 500 mg tablet under the provisions of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013. GSKAP is reducing the price of Crocin Advance Paracetamol Fast Release 500 mg tablet to conform to the price notified under DPCO, 2013 with immediate effect. From now onwards, Crocin Advance 500 mg tablet will be supplied with price revision. Other variants of Crocin continue to be available for consumer consumption. GSKAP has been and will continue to be compliant with law of the land.''
In the past, a GSK offiical had said that the locally innovated Crocin Advance gave consumers faster relief than a regular paracetamol. He had also indicated that the Drug Controller General of India had certified the product as a new drug, adding that locally-researched new drugs were exempt from price control.