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news updates<br />
India exempts new drugs<br />
from price control for 5 years<br />
The government of India has decided<br />
to exempt innovative medicines<br />
developed by foreign companies from<br />
price control for five years.<br />
The Centre has brought necessary<br />
amendments to the Drugs (Price<br />
Control) Order (DPCO), which sets<br />
the rules for regulating the prices of<br />
medicines through a National List<br />
of Essential Medicines, known as<br />
Schedule-I.<br />
As per a notification issued by the<br />
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers,<br />
new drugs patented under the Indian<br />
Patent Act of 1970 are exempted<br />
from price regulation for a period of<br />
five years from the date of<br />
commencement of its commercial<br />
marketing by the manufacturer in the<br />
country.<br />
Prior to this amendment, the<br />
exemption for five years was available<br />
only to those new drugs which<br />
were patented in India, but were<br />
not produced elsewhere and were<br />
developed through indigenous research<br />
and development.<br />
The amendment allows any<br />
new drug to get the exemption if<br />
it is patented in India under Indian<br />
Patents Act, 1970 and developed and<br />
manufactured by any patentee across<br />
the globe.<br />
The move is expected to enable<br />
access to novel medicines, especially<br />
orphan drugs for treating rare diseases<br />
in India.<br />
The WHO defines rare disease as<br />
a lifelong disorder with a prevalence<br />
of one or less per 1,000 population.<br />
India, however, is yet to have a<br />
standard definition for rare diseases. It<br />
is estimated that one in 20 Indians is<br />
affected by one of the 7,000 diseases<br />
listed as rare diseases, if we go by<br />
the definition that rare disorders are<br />
those that affect less than one in 2,500<br />
people in India.<br />
docprime.com<br />
expands to more<br />
places<br />
docprime.com, a free online<br />
consultation platform,<br />
will be expanded to 12 major<br />
states of India, the company<br />
announced.<br />
Online services of the<br />
portal will now be available in<br />
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,<br />
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,<br />
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab,<br />
Madya Pradesh, West Bengal,<br />
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and<br />
Chhatisgarh.<br />
docprime.com, which<br />
already has a strong presence<br />
new drugs<br />
PRICE<br />
CONTROL<br />
8 / FUTURE MEDICINE / <strong>FEBRUARY</strong> <strong>2019</strong>
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