Evaluating Price Disparities Among Anti- Parkinson’s Disease Drugs in the Indian Pharmaceutical Market

Introduction: Pharmacoeconomics observes, measures, and compares the economic burden and detrimental impact of pharmacological therapy on the healthcare system, and it plays an important part in medical practices. Parkinson's disease (PD) has a large socioeconomic impact on society. It has become increasingly common over the past 25 years and resulted in 5.8 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2019. Aims and Objectives: The purpose is to determine the number of brands and pricing variations for each antiparkinsonian drug available in India. Which can help to develop more cost-effective treatment regimens that improve patient compliance and provide great care. Methods: The cost of particular antiparkinsonian drugs of different strengths was sourced from the "Current Index of Medical Specialties" (CIMS) and "India Drug Review" (IDR 2024 issue 3). The difference between the maximum price andminimum price was analysed, and the percentage variation in prices was calculated. Results: In total, 208 brands representing five different groups of antiparkinsonian medicines were found. A total of 10 medications were introduced, each with a distinct strength (mg), as well as 2 fixed-dose combination drugs with 6 different strengths. Procyclidine 2.5 mg (central anticholinergics) had the highest cost ratio (4.58 percentage) and cost variation (358.33 percentage). Pramipexole 0.75 mg (a dopaminergic agonist) had the lowest cost ratio (1.16) and cost variation (16.4 percentage). While in the fixed dose combination, Levodopa + Carbidopa (250/25 mg) had the highest cost ratio (7.39) and Percentage cost variation (639.89 Percentage). Levodoapa+Carbidopa+Entacapone (100/25/200 mg) had the lowest cost ratio (1.12) and Percentage cost variation (12.5 percent). Conclusion: The study emphasises the significance of the selection of most appropriate brand of medicine which helps to reduce the patient economic burden results in effective medication adherence and creates awareness to the healthcare workers on the wide variations of cost and selection of Anti-Parkinson drugs.