API prices fall as West Asia tensions ease, boosting Indian pharma sector

New Delhi: In a relief for India's pharmaceutical sector, prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have declined by 5-10% as the geopolitical situation in West Asia shows signs of stabilisation.

The easing of the crisis, which had severely disrupted supply chains of critical raw materials including petrochemical-based solvents, ammonia, methanol and propylene, has brought some breathing room to domestic drug manufacturers which had been grappling with soaring input costs. "There has been a fall in the prices by 5-10%. Prices of azithromycin, paracetamol and major vitamins are down," said Mehul Shah, an industry expert.

However, industry insiders caution that a full normalisation may still take time.


"It will take some time to stabilise. I assume somewhere around a quarter if things remain absolutely stable in the Middle East," said Namit Joshi, chairman of Pharmexcil.

The development comes as a significant relief for the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which had been examining upward price revision requests for as many as 82 drugs submitted by manufacturers, citing rising API costs, increased production expenses and exchange rate fluctuations.

An inter-ministerial committee, which reviewed all 82 applications recommended approval for only four formulations last week including the cancer drugs cisplatin and carboplatin and two anti-tetanus immunoglobulin injections where acute shortages had severely disrupted patient care.