NEW DELHI: The fear that price capping of coronary stents has led to shortage of the medical device used in angioplasty, which is being largely filled by Chinese products, has been put to rest by India’s pharmaceutical regulator.
In February 2017, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for the first time fixed a price cap of Rs 30,180 for cardiac stents, and recently further reduced it to Rs 28,980. Figures released recently by the agency clarifies that there has been no shortage of stents in the market despite the initiative.
A coronary stent is a tiny device used in angioplasty to treat blockages in the heart.
Post the price capping last year, four multi-national medical device manufacturers from the US had threatened to withdraw their products from the Indian market, leading to fear of crisis of stents in the country.
The NPPA data, however, shows that while there was some decrease in the distribution of imported stents, Indian manufacturers made up for the loss by gaining over 4 per cent of the market share.
The information has also allayed the perception that there has been a big spike in the usage of Chinese stents following the unavailability of some new and technologically better stents by US manufacturers.
It shows that while there was no presence of Chinese manufacturer in 2016 before the price capping, Chinese company Mircoport supplied 1 per cent of the total stents used in India.
The popular perception has been that foreign companies enjoy almost 70 per cent of the stent market share in India. But as per the NPPA, last year imported brands—including Abbott, Medtronic and Boston—made up for only 33 per cent. In 2016, Indian firms accounted for 57 per cent of the stents distributed, which rose to 61 per cent following price capping.
India’s pharma regulator had enforced the price capping on stents after years of demands by health activists and the move ensured there was up to 85 per cent reduction in prices. The stents earlier cost Rs 45,000 to Rs 3 lakh.
“After the price capping, there has not been any qualitative or quantitative decline in the stents available in India, so there is no reason for anyone to worry. The government should expand the ambit of price regulation further,” said Sibananda Datta, vice-president of the Cardiological Society of India, an association of heart specialists in India.
The authority, too, feels the need to reduce the overall cost of angioplasty amid concerns that most hospitals charge exorbitant fees for the procedure by making huge profits on other devices—such as guiding catheters, guidewire and cardiac balloons.
The regulator has written to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to categorise these devices as essential medicines so that their prices can be capped as well.