Essential Drugs Company Limited (EDCL) produces around 140 types of medicines, of which the company has reduced the prices of 33 essential medicines it manufactures, with the maximum reduction being up to 50 percent.

Samad Mridha, managing director of the EDCL, came up with the announcement while addressing a press conference held at his office in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Ensuring the purchase of raw materials at fair prices by breaking the syndicate has helped reduce the cost, he said, adding that the prices of 33 medicines have been reduced by 10 to 50 percent.

The medicines with reduced prices include antibiotics, treatments for pneumonia, cold and fever, high blood pressure, gastric ulcers, deworming medicines, painkillers, asthma medications and vitamins, he added.

Mridha said the prices of omeprazole capsules, ketorolac injections, Ondansetron injection, ceftriaxone and Ceftazidime injection have been significantly reduced.

The price of meropenem and omeprazole injections has also been lowered. In addition, the price of montelukast tablets has been cut from Tk 10.67 to Tk 5.

Among the 32 medicines listed for use in rural clinics, the prices of 22 medicines, including antacids for gastric problems, paracetamol, salbutamol, albendazole, chloramphenicol eye drops and metformin, along with various other medicines, have also been reduced, he said.