Pfizer affected by NLEM list expansion

New Delhi : Terming the expansion of National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 'a dampener', drug firm Pfizer said the government's move has impacted it as some of its big products coming under the revised list.

The company also termed the recent move by the government to ban around 344 fixed drug combinations (FDCs) as challenging.

"NLEM has been a dampener the NLEM list came out some time back and effective April the new prices have started hitting the market. Pfizer is impacted given couple of big products are in the mix there," Pfizer Ltd Managing Director S Sridhar told analysts in a conference call.

The NLEM list impacts company's 11-12 products including major drugs like Zosyn or Claribid, he added.

"It impacts few products like Zosyn or Claribid, those two are the major products what we have. We have price drop ranging from about 40-odd-per cent over 60-odd-per cent across various products there. That is a price drop we have across few products," S Sridhar said.

Some 11 products have a price drop ranging from 30 per cent to 60 per cent, he added.

In December 2015, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notified NLEM, resulting in over 100 new molecules being added and 70 molecules being excluded from the earlier list of 2011.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has the authority to fix ceiling prices of medicines falling under the NLEM list.

Sridhar said the company also faced problems due to the government banning about 350 formulations overnight.

"Corex was one of them, we were fairly quick in moving the court and currently we do have a stay order from the Delhi High Court, consequent to which we continue to sell our products all over the country, the litigation is underway and the hearing is ongoing," he said.

"Yes, we are disturbed by the sudden turn of events, but we do believe the current system does recognise factual situations and therefore we are presenting our case to the court, the best of what we can," he added. MSS SA