New Delhi: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised the ceiling retail prices for 543 medicines used in cancer treatment. Following the revision, prices of certain drugs have been reduced by as much as 93%, with the updated rates set to come into force from November 9.
The move comes amid ongoing Supreme Court hearings on drug pricing. During the proceedings, the Centre had stated that it was fixing the trade margin for cancer medicines at 30% of the maximum retail price (MRP). The court, however, questioned why similar trade-margin limits could not be applied to other medicines as well.
According to the revised list, prices of several key medicines have been cut by around 70% to 93%. For instance, the price of one brand pack of palbociclib, used in breast cancer treatment, has been reduced from Rs 40,421 to Rs 2,720. The price of a vial of thiotepa, used in chemotherapy, has been lowered from Rs 80,072 to Rs 7,150. Prices of medicines such as dasatinib, lenvatinib, abiraterone and olaparib have also been reduced significantly.
At the same time, prices of some major medicines remain unchanged. The price of Keytruda continues at Rs 2,16,500 per vial, while ribociclib used for breast cancer remains at Rs 24,435. No changes were reported for certain other medicines including Tagrisso, Tecentriq, Darzalex and Imfinzi.
The price revision is part of the effort to cap the trade margin for companies involved in selling cancer medicines at 30% of the MRP. The reduction is estimated to save cancer patients up to Rs 2,500 crore annually, though social activists note that overall treatment costs also include surgery, radiation, tests and hospital expenses, and the benefit will depend on whether the cuts reach patients.
