The Emirates Drug Establishment has ordered retail price cuts on 168 pharmaceutical products across the UAE, with reductions ranging from 5% to nearly 60% on some high-cost biologic medicines. The changes take effect May 30, and pharmacies have already begun reflecting the revised prices.
The cuts span a wide range of therapeutic categories, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, cholesterol disorders, stroke prevention, glaucoma, asthma, and psychiatric conditions.
The steepest reductions fall on oncology and biologic drugs. Alunbrig 180 mg, a treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer containing the active ingredient Brigatinib, drops from Dh26,433 to Dh21,108. Alunbrig 90 mg falls from Dh19,824 to Dh12,520, and Alunbrig 30 mg from Dh6,608 to Dh4,173. Xeloda 150 mg, used in treating breast, colon, and rectal cancers, moves from Dh347 to Dh241.
Among cholesterol medications, Zocor 40 mg recorded the largest percentage reduction at approximately 59.5%, while Xalatan eye drops for glaucoma patients fell by around 51.7%, to Dh43 from Dh89.
Diabetes drugs also saw meaningful reductions. Amaryl 1 mg, based on glipizide, is now priced at Dh19 instead of Dh25, and Amaryl 2 mg at Dh32 from Dh39.50. For hypertension, Aprovel 150 mg dropped from Dh99.50 to Dh63.50, and Renitec 20 mg from Dh83 to Dh62.
The anticoagulants Pradaxa 110 mg and Pradaxa 150 mg, used to protect patients with atrial fibrillation from thrombosis and stroke, were cut to Dh198 from Dh220 and to Dh394.50 from Dh438.50 respectively.
In psychiatric and neurological treatments, Invega 9 mg, prescribed for schizophrenia, dropped from Dh843 to Dh416. For severe eosinophilic asthma, the biologic injection Nucala 100 mg (Mepolizumab) was reduced to Dh5,142 from Dh6,212.50.
Gastrointestinal medicines were also included: PARIET 20 mg now costs Dh47.50 rather than Dh75, and pediatric treatments for acute gastroenteritis saw cuts, with Hidrasec Infants 10 mg reduced from Dh50 to Dh43.
