(Corrects to say two drugs added in price control list inheadline and first paragraph, removes second bullet point andthird paragraph, adds new second and third paragraphs)
* New drugs join price control list of more than 500 drugs
By Zeba Siddiqui
MUMBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - India has extended price caps toan additional two antibiotics, in the government's latest effortto improve the affordability of medicines.
India's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)said in a notice that it had put price caps on the 250 mgstrength of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride and the 250 mg and 500mg strengths of cefotaxime.
The NPPA also set new retail prices for specific brands ofdrugs including those for diabetes and hypertension, accordingto the notice.
Wide-ranging price cuts over the past year have hit severaldrugmakers in India and have been opposed by many in theindustry, who say drug prices in the country are already amongthe lowest in the world. The new drugs join a price control listthat covers more than 500 drugs.
The move comes after a parliamentary committee said in Aprilthat the scope of price control needed to be enlarged evenfurther. In India, the majority of people live on less than $2 aday and health insurance is scarce.
But a study conducted by healthcare research firm IMS andsponsored by the main business association of multinationaldrugmakers operating in India argues that price controls are notan effective strategy to improve healthcare access for Indianpatients.
Price caps benefit high-income patients rather than thelow-income patients and put pressure on profit margins for smalland mid-sized companies, said the study, which was released onTuesday. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marquesand Edwina Gibbs)