Novartis India is up in arms against a two-month old decision of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to reduce the price of its flagship brand Voveran on public interest grounds. The annual sales of Voveran, the brand name for pain reliever medicine diclofenac, exceed Rs 100 crore and account for one-fourth of the company's total sales turnover. The company has filed a review petition with the chemicals and fertilisers ministry against the authority's decision. According to the complaint filed by Novartis, the NPPA decision is not justifiable and is out of tune with existing guidelines and rules governing the prices of medicines that are not controlled. NPPA does not normally fix the prices of of medicines that are