India's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised the maximum retail price (MRP) of 543 medicines in 137 categories used to treat cancer. Some prices fall by more than 90 percent. The revised prices take effect on 9 November, the Kolkata daily Sangbad Pratidin reports.
The move came a day after sharp criticism from the Supreme Court on Tuesday. According to the report, the court rebuked drug companies, hospitals and the central government together over the excessive price of life-saving drugs, citing a medicine worth Rs 11,000 being sold for Rs 1.30 lakh.
On the revised list, one brand and pack of palbociclib, used for some types of breast cancer, falls from Rs 40,421 to Rs 2,720, a cut of about 93.3 percent. A brand of anastrozole, another breast cancer drug, falls from Rs 458.85 to Rs 39.52.
Not every price has moved. The immunotherapy drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab), used for 21 types of cancer, stays at Rs 2,16,500. Ribociclib (Kryxana) is unchanged at Rs 24,435, and the MRPs of Tagrisso, Tecentriq, Darzalex and Imfinzi are also unchanged. Specialist doctors note that many multinational companies' drugs are missing from the revised list.
The NPPA has decided to cap the trade margin on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs at 30 percent of the MRP. According to the report, the list reflects information companies submitted up to 27 October.
Medicines are the biggest burden on families paying for long cancer treatment; how far the margin cap cuts that cost, and for which drugs, will become clear after 9 November. The report was written for Sangbad Pratidin by Kishore Ghosh.
Photo: Model of the palbociclib molecule, Fuse809 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Sangbad Pratidin
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