The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixed the ceiling prices of coronary stents vide a notification dated February 13, 2017, which was valid for one year. This decision is to be revisited now in February 2018.

As per an order dated January 29, NPPA in its meeting to be held on February 5, 2018 in the Conference Room of NPPA will hear all the stakeholders.

On January 30, the NPPA will have met eminent Intervention Cardiologists and on February 5, a meeting is scheduled with AdvaMed, MTal, AIMED, ISMA, AMCCI, AMCHAM. ASSOCHAM, CM, FICCI, PHDCC&I, Multinational stent manufacturing companies, Indian Stent manufacturing companies and ADEH, AIDAN. CAI, ORF, Oxfam India. PHFI.

Apart from the above-mentioned stakeholders, if any formal stakeholder has been left out and wants to put forward its views, they are requested to send an email in this regard to chairman.nppa@nic.in for getting confirmation for the meeting. Only one representative of a stent manufacturing company may be allowed.

In a memorandum dated November 9, 2017, the NPPA asked domestic and foreign stent makers to submit their representations on stent pricing by December 31.  In the same month Abbott Laboratories refused to introduce their latest stent Xience Sierra in India. Earlier in September, it had received permission to withdraw its premium Xience Alpine metallic stents as well as its dissolving stents.

The stent price cap was also discussed at the October 26 US India Trade Policy Forum in Washington DC.

In September, US trade representative wrote to Indian commerce minister and the prime minister’s principal secretary that the policy had created serious problems for US stent makers in India. He also urged India not to extend caps to other devices. The matter was also discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June last year.

Will NPPA succumb to pressure from the imported device industry. Will the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ policy suffer?

Let’s wait… the NPPA stakeholder consultation will decide the fate of ceiling price of stents and whether it will allow new stents in the future at a higher cost.

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee Vice President CMAAO Group Editor-in-chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA