STUDY OF VARIATION IN PRICE OF VARIOUS NSAIDS COMBINATIONS AVAILABLE IN INDIAN MARKET

Introduction: Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory drugs are widely used drugs worldwide for various inflammatory conditions and acute as well as chronic pain conditions. In India large number of NSAIDs preparations are available in the market. Therefore choosing a NSAID becomes very difficult task for the prescribing physician. Objective: To evaluate the price variation of the different NSAIDs preparation available in the Indian market. Material And Methods: Cost of a particular drug in the same strength and dosage forms being manufactured by different companies was obtained from “Current Index of Medical Specialties” (CIMS) Jan-Apr, 2015 and “Indian Drug Review” (IDR) Issue 1,2015. Difference between the maximum and minimum cost of the same drug manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies was calculated and percentage cost variation was calculated. Spearman correlation analysis and regression coefficient was done to observe the correlation between no. of manufacturing companies and their percentage price variation with the help of IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v.21). Result: NSAIDs combination were commonly found as Oral and Topical combination formulations. Out of 33 different Oral Combination with 70 various formulations, maximum %variation in cost were 3400 [Aceclofenac 100mg+Paracetamol 500mg tab], 300.62 [Dexibuprofen 300mg+Paracetmol 500mg tab] and 400 [Diclofenac Na 50mg+Serrapeptase 10mg tab] with average %variation in cost 107.4%. For Topical Combination Formulations, only 5 formulations of 2 drugs with 86 different pharmaceutical companies were found. From which, Diclofenac topical combination formulation show highest %variation in cost [192.59] with average %variation in cost being 55.63. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the prices of various NSAIDs shows great variation. Some measures must be taken by the government to bring about the uniformity in the price