India’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) will fix the price of Abbott Healthcare’s epilepsy drug Gardenal Syrup after invoking the public interest clause within the Drugs Price Control Order.

Abbott acquired the branded generic following the acquisition of Piramal Healthcare in India, and the country’s drug price regulator has now fixed the 60ml package price at INR39.60.

The NPPA made the decision following an increase in excess of 10% between August 2007 and August 2008, flouting regulations that allow drug companies to increase prices by a maximum of 10% within a 12-month period.

In addition, the authority revised prices of five other drugs: salbutamol sulphate, pheniramine maleate, spironolactone, pyrantel pamoate and chlopropamide.