Rise of imported medical devices in India leads to price control talks

India’s growing medical device market has prompted many multinational companies to open their own local offices in the country. In 2007 alone, over 25 foreign medical device companies such as Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Abbott, DePuy and others received product import clearances for their local subsidiaries in India. Market growth can also be seen in the increase of medical device patents. The Society for Economic and Social Studies in India found that 64 patents had been granted for medical devices in India in the past two years.

With more foreign medical devices entering the country, the Indian government has decided to expand one of its government committees to discuss pricing on medical devices. This government committee was originally focused on price negotiations for patented drugs and developing a system of reducing prices of imported medicines. Now, the same committee will also explore the possibility of price negotiations for medical devices before granting marketing approval. The committee consists of members from various government and health ministries, such as the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization) and the NPPA (National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority).

The committee is now authorized to interact with various medical device and pharmaceutical industry associations to determine an appropriate pricing system such as reference pricing or differential pricing. Then, the committee will conduct price negotiations on the imported drug or medical device. Imported medical devices or drugs without negotiated pricing would not be licensed and sold in India.

India’s medical device market is worth $2.5 billion today and its future expected growth rate up to 2010 is projected at 15%.