DNA Money Edit: Combination drugs ban hit to be marginal

After the ministry of health and family prohibited manufacture, sale and distribution of 328 fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs last week, the Supreme Court on Monday lifted the ban on four drugs, including Saridon, Piriton and Dart. The order came after a petition was filed by Piramal Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline and Juggat Pharma.

The ban covers around 6,000 brands spread across therapy areas including painkillers, anti-diabetic, respiratory and gastro-intestinal medicines. An FDC is a combination of two or more active ingredients in fixed dosage ratio. The logic behind such drugs is that they help to simplify therapy, improve adherence and maximise benefits for patients. It is claimed that around 2,000 FDCs are reportedly available in India versus the 500 in the US.

FDCs are popular in India largely because of its low cost. A patient can buy just one cocktail medicine instead of buying two or more drugs to treat multiple illness symptoms. Also, pharma companies root for these drugs because the active ingredients can be combined quickly and are less expensive than manufacturing and discovering new medicines. Probably, pharma companies prefer FDCs which are not under price control than the single-ingredient medicines those are under price control.

The impact of the ban, exclusive of 15 pre-1988 FDCs, was estimated to be around Rs1,000 crore, just around 0.8 % of the total domestic pharma industry valued around Rs1.2 lakh crore.