In another inflation-related setback, several essential medicines are set to become costlier from April. These include drugs like antibiotics, anti-infectives, painkillers and cardiac medicine. The prices of 384 molecules corresponding to approximately 900 formulations ranging in 27 therapies is expected to rise by 12 percent from next month.
Medicine companies are set to be permitted to hike prices according to the annual Wholesale Price Index (WPI) change. The change in WPI index comes out to 12.12 percent in the year 2022, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said on Monday as per a Times of India report.
The drug molecules that are set to become costlier are termed scheduled drugs and come under the national list of essential medicines. The NPPA regulates the prices of these essential medicines.
On the other hand, an annual hike of 10 percent is permitted in the prices of non-scheduled drugs. The ceiling prices of the scheduled medicines will be notified in the coming days, TOI reported citing sources.
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