A priority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past two years was price caps on medicines to help stabilize the pharmaceutical sector, said Mehdi Pirsalehi, director general of Monitoring Medicines office at the FDA.
Several measures were taken in this regard by the government as per the May 2014 Health Reform Plan, reports ISNA.
Negotiations with foreign pharmaceutical companies, timely action to supply medicines, reasonable pricing of imported drugs, fixing prices of domestic drugs as well as curbing import of medicines manufactured domestically by imposing import tariffs, are measures taken by the FDA and supported by the government.
Prompt action by the FDA in issuing production permits, creating incentives for pioneers in the field of domestic production and support for knowledge-based pharmaceutical companies are in line with stabilizing prices of medicines.
Pirsalehi also said medicine shortage has declined by 88%. “There were shortages of 270 types of pharmaceuticals in 2013, which has come down to 30 now,” he added.
