The government on Thursday said no time frame can be given for implementation of draft National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy, 2011. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Srikant Kumar Jena said the policy is awaiting the response from the concerned ministries and stakeholders. Mr Jena said the final draft policy would be prepared considering the feedback.

The draft national pricing policy, 2011 proposes to regulate prices of drug formulations only, unlike the existing principle of controlling prices of specified bulk drugs and their formulations as adopted in the drug policy, 1994.

The draft policy also seeks to bring 60 per cent of total domestic pharmaceutical market under price control. The draft policy proposed that all the 348 drugs specified in the National List of Essential Medicines 2011 will be under price control.