The group of ministers (GoM) on pharma pricing will meet again next week to finalise the pricing of 348 essential drugs.
The GoM met on Thursday, but could not arrive at a decision. The panel discussed market-based pricing suggested by the Commerce Ministry, but needed more data to take a call.
“We are meeting next week again. The date is not finalised…we need some information which would take a week to come in. Our desire is to finalise everything in next 8-10 days time. Next weekend we will finalise everything,” Sharad Pawar, Minister for Agriculture and Chairman of the GoM, told reporters here.
The GoM also suggested that the panel was also not ruling out at the alternative method of cost-based pricing.
According to Ministry sources, the GoM on Thursday came to a consensus that the regulation should be limited to the 348 medicines and their 614 dosages as specified in the country’s National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011.
The GoM also decided to collect data from different countries (around 10) to check their formula on drugs pricing.