Recently, the Centre and the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry discussed key issues related to the pricing of drugs and medical devices, including trade margin rationalisation (TMR).
Key points
- Differential TMR with higher margin for domestic supply chain was recommended by the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD).
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers sought a graded introduction of TMR.
- For a while now, the Centre has been considering rationalising drug trade margins for widely used medicines to bring down their prices.
- TMR will be applied in phases, with the first one including drugs priced above Rs 100 or so. The idea is to cap the margins earned by wholesalers and retailers.
