Prices of 4,300 drugs cheaper from June 1

MUSCAT: Prices of more than 4,000 medicines will be cheaper from June 1. The drop follows the ministerial decision No 74/2017 issued by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health. Dr Mohammed bin Hamdan al Rubai’e, Director-General of Pharmaceutical Affairs and Drug Control at the ministry, said based on the latest decision, the profit margin on drugs will be reduced from 55 per cent to 45 per cent. The decision is expected to bring down the retail price of 4,300 registered and marketing medications in the Sultanate. The decision is a continuation of a phased-approach aimed at unification of cost, insurance and freight (CIF) prices of innovative medicines across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Earlier, prices of 2,600 medications were reduced in two phases. Prices of 1,400 drugs were brought down in October 2014 (first phase), and prices of 1,180 slashed in June 2015 (second phase).