Cancer Drug Price Cuts Leave Costly Brands Untouched
Manufacturers cut some prices sharply, but many patented cancer drugs stayed unchanged after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority’s margin cap.
- On Tuesday, manufacturers announced revised MRP for 137 non-scheduled cancer medicines following a government-mandated trade margin cap at 30%, with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority publishing the finalized price list.
- India's out-of-pocket share for cancer care, estimated at 50%-80% of direct treatment costs, far exceeds most high-income systems, prompting the NPPA to introduce the margin ceiling to improve affordability.
- Data shows reductions exceeding 90% for chemotherapy drugs like Thiotepa, yet of 543 formulations across the 137 selected medicines, 146 saw no price adjustments, revealing uneven impact across drug categories.
- Experts like Malini Aisola of the All India Drug Action Network argue that capping margins rather than manufacturing costs limits impact, though the government claims the policy will save patients about R2,500 crore annually.
- Reducing overall financial burdens requires addressing diagnostics, surgery, and hospital stays alongside medication costs, Experts note, as high treatment expenses alone can lead patients to defer care or pursue less effective alternatives.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Will the price caps on cancer drugs help bring down the cost of treatment?
For cancer patients in India, the struggle to stay alive is as much about the disease as about the arithmetic of fighting it. Experts call the government’s price caps a tokenistic, short-term measure. Patients will not benefit unless structural changes including tackling pricing at the manufacturing end, and large-scale government procurement to stabilise prices are put in place Will capping trade margins on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs b…
Cancer drug price caps announced: Which therapies can get cheaper
The highest reductions were seen in the chemotherapy medicines Thiotepa for which the price goes down from R80,071 to R7,150 for a 100mg vial. This was followed by the breast cancer immunotherapy drug Pertuzumab for which the prices reduced from Rs 94,951 to Rs 30,593 for a 30mg vial
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised the prices of 543 cancer drugs, with many seeing price reductions of more than 90 percent. However, the prices of expensive drugs like Keytruda remain unchanged.
Substantial Reduction in Most Cancer Drugs' Prices to Come into Effect from November 9 Onwards
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Cancer patients across India are set to receive financial relief as pharmaceutical companies reduce drug prices after a directive from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), with the revised Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) taking effect on November 9 India News | Substantial Reduction in Most Cancer Drugs' Prices to Come into Effect from November 9 Onwards .
Cancer drug price cap: Despite steepest cuts on generics, biosimilars, most patented, single-brand drugs keep their prices
NPPA’s revised cancer drug price cap cuts generics/biosimilars up to 93% while most patented drugs remain unchanged, affecting 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs.
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