Indian Parliamentary Committee Recommends Price Margins for All Drugs

Price restrictions for the drugs sold in India should be on check, recommends a parliamentary committee. The law allows the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) regulator to fix prices of drugs on a list of essential medicines and keep prices in check.

A standing committee with a panel of 31 lawmakers on chemicals and fertiliZers, noted in a report that all medicines should be available in the market at an affordable price.

How to Select Over-the-Counter (OTC) Drugs for Allergy
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can be bought without a prescription. OTC allergy medications are for the allergy sufferer to choose the right over-the-counter drugs.

About 12% of the medicines sold nationwide are currently under price caps, including 348 drugs classified as essential medicines. Though the companies are allowed to hike their prices by up to 10% a year, the government regulates the prices of all other medicines.

DG Shah, Secretary general, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) said, “It is a part of the policy. Pharmaceutical companies don't get a chance to hike prices (more than once) a year. This price hike is linked to inflation.”

All the drugs on the government's HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis control programs are likely to be added to the list of drugs subject to price caps.

Chemical Strategy Hints at Better Drugs for Diabetes, Osteoporosis
UW–Madison graduate student Ross Cheloha and his mentor, Sam Gellman, along with collaborators at Harvard Medical School, have built a version of a parathyroid hormone that resists degradation in laboratory mice, by swapping replacement parts into the backbone of a synthetic hormone.

Both local and foreign drug makers in India oppose the restrictions on price caps though the government earlier allowed pharmaceutical companies to hike rates of 509 essential medicines used for diabetes, hepatitis and cancer by 3.84%.

Source-Medindia

Three New Studies on Drugs for Diabetes and Kidney Disease
The American Society of Nephrology's Annual Kidney Week saw three new studies presented that offered new information on the drugs that are being tested in diabetic and kidney disease patients.

Drugs for Diabetes, Obesity May Prove Useful in Hepatitis C
A new research led by the University of Leeds has found that common drugs used to treat conditions such as diabetes and obesity can be used to successfully treat hepatitis C virus infection.