Context

• Aimed at providing accessible, standardised and affordable generic medicines, the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras, have added nutraceuticals products, including protein powder and bar, malt-based food supplements and immunity bar for its customers. 

• Point-of-sale application for value-added services has been implemented by the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) to monitor end-to-end supply chain management system. 

Key Details

• Under the PMBJP being implemented by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, a medicine is priced on the principle of maximum of 50% of the average price of the top three brands of the said medicine. Thus, the prices of Jan Aushadhi medicines are cheaper at least by 50% and in some cases, by 80% to 90% of the market price of the branded medicines.

  

• In India, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority under the Department of Pharmaceuticals regulates the prices of all drugs, whether branded or generic. While it fixes the ceiling price of scheduled medicines specified in the first schedule of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, in case of non-scheduled medicines, the manufactures are free to fix the maximum retail price (MRP) of the drug.

Back to basics

About Nutraceuticals

• The term “nutraceutical” combines the two words of “nutrient,” which is a nourishing food component, and “pharmaceutical,” which is a medical drug. The name was coined in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice.
• Nutraceuticals are products, which other than nutrition are also used as medicine.
• A nutraceutical product may be defined as a substance, which has physiological benefit or provides protection against chronic disease.
• Nutraceuticals may be used to improve health, delay the aging process, prevent chronic diseases, increase life expectancy, or support the structure or function of the body.
• Nowadays, nutraceuticals have received considerable interest due to potential nutritional, safety and therapeutic effects.
• Nutraseuticals, in contrast to pharmaceuticals, are substances, which usually have not patent protection. Both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical compounds might be used to cure or prevent diseases, but only pharmaceutical compounds have governmental sanction.

Reference: TH

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