The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the drug pricing regulator in India, warned that the injectable form of a common painkiller, ibuprofen, was issued by three companies at an arbitrary price. The injectable was used by several hospitals across the Delhi-NCR region.

Over the previous several months, the multi-disciplinary committee (MDC) of the NPPA, consisting of pharmaceutical professionals, probed into the complaints. The committee determined that the medicine formulation was marketed by Cipla, Hetero, and Sandor at a price ranging from Rs 26 to Rs 74 per vial.

Last month, the minutes of the panel meeting sent to the NPPA revealed that the ceiling price of injectable diclofenac, another pain reliever commonly used for hospitalized patients, had been fixed at Rs 1.63 per vial. The same price, i.e., Rs 1.63 per vial, can be fixed for ibuprofen 100 mg injection or infusion. The proposal was based on the fact that both ibuprofen and diclofenac are analgesics, antipyretics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs).

A Cipla spokesman stated that the company had followed all the relevant guidelines. He also added that this information had been relayed to the NPPA and the committee.

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/are-3-firms-selling-ibuprofen-injectables-at-inflated-mrp-drug-price-regulator-probes/1557867/ )