Pharma industry upbeat on finalising new price mechanism within next 3-4 months

Sri Lanka’s pharmaceutical industry is upbeat on finalising a new price mechanism within the next three to four months, with the new leadership of the pricing committee established under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA). 

“With the little discussion we had with the newly-appointed chairman of the pricing committee, we were pleased to observe his understanding of the challenges faced by the industry. We are hopeful that within the next three to four months, we will be able to develop a fair and workable price mechanism that takes into account these industry-specific expenses and the ultimate benefit will be passed on to the patients,” Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry (SLCPI) President M. Prathaban said. 

Although the NMRA Act came into force over seven years ago, the government failed to come up with a transparent, equitable and fair pricing mechanism that is applicable to all pharmaceuticals, as required by the act, in agreement with the pharmaceutical sector. 
The SLCPI stressed that such a pricing mechanism must factor in the expenses that are unique to the pharmaceutical industry such as cold chain maintenance, temperature controlling of warehouses, retail outlets and transportation. Most of these are highly sensitive to the cost of fuel and finance cost.

Although the discussions for the pricing mechanism were at final stages during the last five to six years, Prathaban said they kept dragging without a reason.
“With the new pricing committee, we feel that we can finalise the pricing mechanism, if everything goes well,” he added.