Drug pricing regulator NPPA today ruled out mid-term revision of coronary stent prices, saying it would revisit the matter in February 2018 after taking into consideration all related issues.
In February this year, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had reduced prices of coronary stents by up to 85 per cent, capping them at ₹7,260 for bare metal ones and ₹29,600 for the drug eluting variety, giving a major relief to patients.
The maximum retail price of a stent prior to the price cap ranged from ₹25,000 to ₹1.98 lakh.
Stent manufacturers had stated the step will lead to non-availability of advanced forms of the medical device due to pricing issues. “NPPA will revisit the prices of coronary stents in February 2018 taking into account all the issues; no mid-term revision in prices before that,” the regulator said a tweet.
Earlier in April, the government had rejected applications by multinational firms Abbott and Medtronic seeking withdrawal of their advanced coronary stents from India and asked them to maintain supplies of the products.