The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has confirmed that no Indian stent manufacturer has sought a withdrawal of their stents from the market after news of Abott pulling out its Alpine and Absorb stents created ripples.
The move comes two months after the NPPA capped the prices of coronary stents, slashing them by as much as 85 per cent in some segments. Abbott now has cited the lack of commercial viability, but the Absorb stent was earlier pulled out of Europe in April, and restricted only to clinical registries.
Following Abbott's decision, news of another company, Medtronic, writing to the NPPA poured in, but Bhupendra Singh, NPPA Chairman, said he would only confirm details after going through the applications on Monday.
While international companies have 60 per cent of the share in the stent market, they are withdrawing only the latest generation stents from the market.
Indian manufacturers, however, are not rattled by the move. A spokesperson for a leading Indian stent manufacturer said, "This will ensure a level-playing field. The capped prices will not have a bearing on our business. Many of these 'so-called' latest generation stents only had slight modifications as opposed to the earlier ones. But, they were sold at a premium price."
While officials and Indian manufacturers are not worried about multinational companies withdrawing their stents, doctors are not so sure. "The international stents are FDA-approved. Why would I want to compromise on quality when operating on a patient? Also, the latest generation stents ensure better patient safety," said Dr Hasmukh Ravat, senior interventional cardiologist and head, Fortis Hospital, Mulund.
THE CRISIS
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority slashed prices by as much as 85% in February 2017
- Price of bare metal stents was fixed at Rs 7,260 and drug eluting stent (DES) and biodegradable stents at Rs 29,600
- DES constitutes 95 per cent of the market
- India's stent market is valued close to Rs 3,500 crores
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