Indian Price-Fixing Case In High Court

The contempt petition launched by Indian drugmaker Ranbaxy against thegovernment over the ciprofloxacin price-fixing issue has been admitted by the High Court in Mumbai. The case will be one of the first in India where a private-sector company has taken the government to court on a contempt issue.

Ranbaxy says the government's fixing of ciprofloxacin's price in notifications in March and June violated and was in contempt of the High Court order of December 1996. That interim order restrained the government from taking any measures after the price-fixing of April 1996. The government is understood to be arguing that the December order did not prevent it from notifying ciprofloxacin's price altogether, merely restraining it from fixing the price of Ranbaxy's ciprofloxacin.

Ranbaxy's brand, Cifran, is market leader with a share of 18.1%, followed by Cipla's Ciplox with about 14.6%, Cadilla's Ciprobid with 13.4% and Ciprolet, marketed by the Dr Reddy company, with 2.8%.