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NEW DELHI: New medicines for treatment of diabetes, hypertension and pneumonia are set to be cheaper from Diwali. Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped prices of as many as 18 new brands of essential medicines, most of which are expected to be launched in the market within a fortnight.The regulator has brought these medicines under price regulation using paragraph 5 of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013, and has fixed their maximum retail price at the average of MRP of all medicines available in that particular therapeutic segment with at least 1% market share.The price fixation by NPPA includes drugs from leading pharmaceutical companies like Cipla , Merck , Franco Indian , Alembic Pharma and Unichem etc.In case any company fails to comply with the retail price as prescribed by the NPPA, then “the concerned manufacturer/ marketing company shall be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with the interest thereon under the provisions of the DPCO, 2013”, the regulator said in a recent order.It also said if a company was planning to discontinue manufacture or sale of any of these medicine, then it would have to seek permission from the regulator six months in advance.The NPPA move is expected to provide consumers with more treatment options which are also cheaper for critical diseases like diabetes and hypertension. On the other hand, it is likely to keep a check on companies trying to launch price controlled formulations under new and different brands after minor changes in the composition or dosage.DPCO, 2013, which came into effect around May 2014, initially brought under price control 652 medicine packs based on 348 formulations of essential medicines as notified by the government under the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy. However, industry executives said in the past 18 months, the span of price control had expanded to entail more than 700 medicine packs.In its latest order, the NPPA also said if any medicine was priced lower than the ceiling fixed by the regulator, then companies selling such drugs should maintain the existing or lower retail price.In the last year, prices of many essential medicines have dropped significantly. The government is now also planning to review the National List of Essential Medicines, based on which price regulation is decided. It is likely the government will try to expand the list to include more new medicines under price control to make live saving drugs affordable and accessible for patients.