The National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped trade margins at 30% of the maximum retail price for 137 identified non-scheduled anticancer drugs. The measure aims to make cancer care more affordable and improve the availability of anticancer drugs, according to a senior Union government official.
Essential Cancer Medicines also includes widely used drugs like pembrolizumab, durvalumab and osimertinib, with the new pricing structure anticipated to expand patient access. The latest decision follows the NPPA’s 2019 pilot initiative on trade margin rationalisation, under which trade margins for 42 anti-cancer drugs were capped at 30%. The earlier intervention led to a significant reduction in the maximum retail prices (MRPs) of 526 brands of non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines, with prices falling by as much as 90%. This measure was introduced to improve the affordability of cancer treatment, curb excessive trade margins and make essential anti-cancer medicines more accessible to patients. The new decision builds on these earlier efforts to regulate medicine prices and reduce the financial burden on individuals undergoing cancer treatment.
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The initiative aimed to make cancer treatment more affordable, control excessive trade margins and improve patients’ access to essential medicines. The latest decision continues these efforts to regulate drug prices and ease the financial burden on cancer patients.
