India’s NPPA tells Boston Scientific to choose between exiting stent market or seeking higher price caps

India’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has told Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) it has to choose between either seeking to withdraw its premium coronary stents from the market or seeking a higher price for them after the Authority received applications for both options, according to an Indian Economic Times report.

The company was blocked from removing its Promus Premier and Synergy stents from the country earlier this year after seeking permission to do so, according to the report, and has again approached the NPPA seeking permission to exit the market.

“The Authority deliberated and decided that NPPA, in any case, shall revisit the pricing of cardiac stents before February 13, 2018. It further noted that the company has submitted 2 applications, 1 for withdrawal and the other for price revision, both cannot be considered simultaneously. The company may be directed to forward one request by withdrawing the other request and till then both the request may be kept in abeyance,” minutes from the NPPA’s latest authority meeting read, according to The Economic Times.

Marlborough, Mass.-based Boston Scientific has not yet officially commented on the process or its intentions as of its last submission to the NPPA.

Earlier this month, the NPPA said it won’t be revising its cap on coronary stents, applied earlier this year, until Feb. 2018, according to a LiveMint report.

The regulatory body for India established price caps earlier this year that cut prices on coronary stents by over 80%, causing major players in the region to seek an exit from the market.

Stent makers, including major players Abbott (NYSE:ABT), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Boston Scientific have urged the NPPA to reconsider its price caps, and threatened to leave the market if the caps were not removed.

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