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Price Control, Regulatory Changes May Hit Pharma
Pharma major Pfizer fears that the pharma industry may have to face challenges from price controls, ad-hoc regulatory changes and new policies that may impact sustainable growth. “Even though economic outlook is expected to remain positive, there are several headwinds in the healthcare and pharmaceutical regulatory space,” the company had said in its annual note to shareholders. “While implementation of large scale healthcare initiatives is expected to provide a boost to the pharma industry, there will be continued challenges in the areas of price controls, ad-hoc regulatory changes and new policies that may impact predictability and sustainable growth,” it further said.
The Indian pharma market (IPM) stood at ₹121,833 crore at the end of financial year 2018, growing at 6.3 percent over the last 12 months. This represents a significant slowdown from the historic 13-14 percent CAGR see over 2010-2016. This slowdown was largely due to regulatory, policy and GST challenges that impacted industry performance.
Unpredictability stays
“We will continue to face policy unpredictability that will impact our operating environment. During FY18, a process to amend the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) was initiated that may again change the price control methodologies in India. “The industry may also continue to see changes in policies around labelling requirements and revisions to the essential medicines list,” Pfizer managing director S Sridhar said. – The Hindu