Parliament to debate drug price regulations next week
October 18, 2025 07:26 pm
Parliament is scheduled to debate the regulations pertaining to the control of drug prices on 21 October 2025.
The new gazette notification containing the relevant regulations was recently approved by the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Health and Mass Media.
When the committee met under the chairmanship of the Minister in charge, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the Chairman of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, pointed out that the Authority is empowered to regulate the prices of medicines under the National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act.
He stated that these regulatory activities had been carried out since 2017. However, due to an interim injunction issued by the court in response to a case filed by a group of drug import companies in 2023, price regulation activities were suspended from 22 December 2023.
A new gazette notification was issued in August 2024 reintroducing the regulatory system, but that too was challenged in court.
Subsequently, another gazette notification was published on 21 July 2025, Dr. Wijewickrama added.
The Parliament Secretariat announced that the regulations mentioned in that gazette notification are scheduled to be debated on 21 October 2025.
