India ’ s NPPA says it will not revisit stent price caps until Feb 2018

India’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority said today it won’t be revising its cap on coronary stents, applied earlier this year, until Feb. 2018, according to a LiveMint report.
The regulatory body for India established price caps earlier this year that cut prices on coronary stents by over 80%, causing major players in the region to seek an exit from the market.
“NPPA will revisit the prices of coronary stents in February 2018 taking into account all the issues,” the regulatory body tweeted, adding that there would be no mid-term revisions of its prices before that date.
“The order is effective for 1 year and has to be revisited thereafter. Even the order of slashing prices for knee implants is for a year and will be revisited after the stipulated period,” an NPPA official said, while remaining anonymous, according to LiveMint.
Stent makers, including major players Abbott (NYSE:ABT), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) have urged the NPPA to reconsider its price caps, and threatened to leave the market if the caps were not removed.
A group of manufacturers recently approached the Prime Minister’s Office seeking exemption from the caps, according to the report.
“Citing commercial unsustainability, the manufacturers are of the view that slashed prices are not competitive for them to sell their products in India. The manufacturers have also stated that the dealer price or the...

Source: Mass Device - September 15, 2017 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Fink Densford Tags: Business/Financial News Regulatory/Compliance Stents Indian National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) Source Type: news