This is a very relieving news for the common citizens of the country. In this era of inflation, there is hope that the cost of treatment will reduce somewhat. There may be a huge decline in the prices of essential medicines in the coming days. Its direct benefit will be to those patients and families who were troubled by the huge expenditure on medicines for a long time. Current market dynamics suggest that costs are coming down in the pharmaceutical industry, the benefits of which will ultimately reach consumers.
There has been a huge decline in the prices of raw materials used in drug manufacturing, which will have a direct impact on the MRP.
If we look at the changes taking place in the pharmaceutical industry, the prices of the raw materials used in making medicines, which are called Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) in technical language, have fallen significantly. Since India imports about 70 percent of the raw material required for its drug manufacturing from China, the impact of the fall in prices there is sure to be visible on the Indian market. There has been a huge decline of 35 to 40 percent in the prices of API in the Chinese market, which will become a major reason for Indian pharmaceutical companies to reduce costs.
The prices of paracetamol and antibiotics, which were skyrocketing during the Corona period, are now on the ground, the goods worth Rs 900 reached Rs 250.
This decline can be easily understood with an example. During the Covid pandemic, the price of the most commonly used paracetamol raw material had reached Rs 900 per kg, but now it has come down to around Rs 250 per kg. Similarly, the raw materials of important antibiotics like amoxicillin have also become cheaper. The main reason behind this is that China had increased its production capacity excessively after Covid. Now due to increase in supply and normalization of global demand, prices there have come down rapidly.
You will have to wait a bit to buy cheap medicines, new rates will be applicable only after the old inventory is exhausted.
However, the general public may not get its benefits immediately. Experts in the pharmaceutical industry have clarified that companies still have old stock (inventory) purchased at expensive prices. Companies will first exhaust their old stock, only then medicines made from new and cheaper raw materials will come into the market. At the same time, the government is also keeping a serious eye on this entire situation. If raw material prices remain low for a long time, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) may take a decision to officially cut the prices of essential medicines, which will significantly reduce the medical bills of the common man.
