Govt slashes Remdesivir MRP by half, with retro-effect

Spelling huge relief for lakhs of Covid19 patients the government has slashed the prices of the lifesaver Remdesivir injection by nearly 50 per cent to MRP Rs 2450 per injection now according to official sourcesIn a missive late on Friday the Ministry of Chemicals amp Fertilisers Department of Pharmaceuticals NPPA Advisor Costs NI Chowdhury has ordered all pharma companies to comply with the revised norms with immediate and retrospective effectBased on the FormV furnished regarding voluntary reduction in Maximum Retail Price MRP of Remdesivir ManufacturersMarketers of the Remdesivir are hereby directed to implement the revised MRP throughout the distribution chain wef 15042021 irrespective of the batch numbers the stern notification saidThe decision came barely a day after a Maharashtra Barrister Vinod Tiwari demanded that the Centre should immediately bring Remdesivir under the DPCO regime in view of its alleged shortages blackmarketing and corruption to the tune of over Rs 25000crore as the injection is in huge demand in ongoing Covid pandemic second wave IANS first highlighted the issue exclusively on April 15Welcoming the Centres move Barrister Tiwari said that it is good that the government has realized the agony of the millions struggling to get Remdesivir and are compelled to cough out huge amounts from the black marketsNow with the MPR slashed to half and even lesser by some of the companies people can breathe easy It will also leash the pharma sector from exploiting the gullible masses in this critical time a victorious Barrister Tiwari told IANSThe Centres orders have been sent to the manufacturers Cadila Healthcare Ltd Cipla Ltd Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd Hetero Labs Ltd Jubilant Pharma Ltd Mylan Laboratories Ltd Syngene International LtdSources in the state FDA inform that under the new norms the pharma companies shall sell even the existing stocks in the market with the revised prices which would hugely benefit the desperate patients or their families besides the healthcare systemIn his petition to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority NPPA a statutory authority under the Drugs Price Control Order DPCO Barrister Tiwari had demanded a highlevel probe into the artificial scarcity hoarding blackmarketing and misuse of the drug which could run into a racket of over Rs 25000 crore under the nose of the NPPA in the past ten months since the drug was launched after the pandemic was declaredIncidentally Maharashtra was the first state to make efforts to bring Remdesivir under the ambit of DPCO but it was reportedly stonewalled by the Centre and others he saidQuestioning why the NPPA did not follow its statutory responsibility to bring Remdesivir under the DPCO regime Barrister Tiwari pointed out that as per the DPCO Act 1995 issued under the Essential Commodities Act the Centre is empowered to include any item of medical importance like Remdesivir currently within the DPCO list to control its manufacture stocking distribution sale etc and make it easily available at a reasonable price to the patientsThe Covid pandemic is the biggest afflicting mankind since 2020 Why did NPPA wait for so long Whos responsible and what were the ulterior motives behind the delays demanded Barrister TiwariThe peititon was sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Union Ministers DV Sadananda Gowda Harsh Vardhan Mansukh Mandaviya Central Vigilance Commission and concerned departments seeking a hearingIn a major fallout the CVC took prompt note of Barrister Tiwaris petition and asked him to submit more details even as the country reels under a shortage of Remdesivir with the medical mafia playing havoc with patients who need the 6 doses injections for Covid treatmentBarrister Tiwari cited examples of how the pharma companies were fleecing people with their different brands of Remdesivir Cipremi is sold for Rs 4000 though it is given to the distributor for barely Rs 1080GST Covifar is sold at Rs 5400 by the stockist who gets it for Rs 935GST Desrem bought for Rs 935GST but sold at Rs 4800 Redyx bought for Rs 900GST but sold to the patient at Rs 5400He termed it as shortsightedness on the part of the Centre and the powerful NPPA that when the pharma companies were given the advantage of compulsory export obligations they could have easily offset the costs domestically and Remdesivir could have been provided either free of cost or at a nominal price to Indian patients but this was deliberately not doneThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever