FTA likely to help GLP-1 therapies become cheaper

Multinational pharmaceutical players like Danish major Novo Nordisk stand to gain from India’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) because prices of their specialty drugs and biologics, especially in fast-growing therapies like glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is for weight loss and diabetes, are set to come down.

- SOHINI DAS

Multinational pharmaceutical players like Danish major Novo Nordisk stand to gain from India’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) because prices of their specialty drugs and biologics, especially in fast-growing therapies like glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is for weight loss and diabetes, are set to come down.

Under the new framework, the EU will cut duties of up to 12.8 per cent to zero, a move expected to catalyse growth in bulk and specialty chemicals. Similarly, 90 per cent of medical and surgical equipment will see tariffs fall from 27.5 percent to zero.

Reciprocally, Indian tariffs on pharmaceutical and chemical exports from Europe will drop to zero from the current 11 per cent and 22 per cent, respectively.