Pricing panel indicts makers of Vicks, Iodex

Pricing panel indicts makers of Vicks, Iodex
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

NEW DELHI, OCT 2: The popular household names in drugs and medicines like Vicks Vaporub, Iodex ointment and Zandu balm have come under the scrutiny of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which has called for prevention of registration of these popular allopathic medicines as ayurvedic drugs. Being `ayurvedic' preparations, these have been evading the price controls/regulations in the past.

Further, other popular drugs and syrups like Corex, Phensedyl, Actifed and Ultragin have also drawn the attention of the NPPA. The manufacturers of these drugs have resorted to change in the drug composition to circumvent price control and continued to sell the medicines under the old established brand.

Although the manufacturers of these drugs are likely to be forced to revise the composition formula of these medicines, they will be allowed to retain their old brand name of the medicine.

The NPPA has called for monitoring the composition in order to prevent the manufacturers from ``unduly shifting'' the price-controlled medicines to the price decontrolled category.

Vicks is the top-selling brand of multinational Procter & Gamble and the Iodex ointment is a top selling product of the 40 per per cent subsidiary of Smithkline Beecham Plc., Smithkline Beecham Pharma. Zandu balm on the other hand belongs to Indian ayurvedic drug major Zandu Pharma.

SmithKline Beecham rakes in close to Rs 85 crore from Iodex alone, which is close to 10 per cent of the company's turnover. Further, Iodex commands a market share of around 24 per cent in the domestic rub and balm industry of around Rs 400 crore. Zandu Pharma's balm on the other hand commands a market share of around 22 per cent.

Pfizer's Corex, launched way back in January 1970, registered a turnover of over Rs 71 crore last year, which was close to 25 per cent of the company's turnover of Rs 287 crore.

It has come to the notice of the NPPA that the composition of reclassified medicines has more or less remained similar to the allopathic version. Although the manufactureres of these medicines have kept the same active ingredients, the names have been changed as per Ayurvedic literature.

The reclassification was primarily meant to evade price control regulations applicable to medicines under the allopathic system.

The NPPA in a note to Sharad Gupta, joint secretary in the department of chemicals and petrochemicals, has called for prevention of such practices of these manufacturers by refusing to accept the reclassifications as ayurvedic products with the same brand name.

Companies like Pfizer, Rhone Poulenc, Burroughs Wellcome and Wyeth Lederle have resorted to change in the composition to escape the price control. Corex is an anti-cough syrup sold by Pfizer, while Phesedyl is a product of Rhone Poulenc. While Actifed belongs to Wellcome, Ultragin is produced by Wyeth Lederle.

The old and the new compositions for these medicines show a vast difference and the manufacturers have not submitted data to establish that the revised formula has the same therapeutic efficacy for which the brand was originally established.