CHENNAI: The national drug price regulator on Wednesday revised the maximum retail prices of as many as 543 cancer drugs brands, slashing some of them by more than 90%.
Quite a few of the generic and biosimilar brands have drastically become cheaper while expensive cancer medicines like blockbuster immunotherapy Keytruda by MSD Pharma, remain unchanged, as per the list released by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Control Authority (NPPA).
The price of Palbociblib, used to treat certain breast cancers has been reduced to Rs 2,270 from Rs 40,421 for one brand and pack size. The cost of chemotherapy drug Thiotepa manufactured by Samarth Life Sciences Pvt Ltd has been reduced from Rs 80,072 to Rs 7,150 for a 100 mg vial. Dasatinib, Lenvatinib, Abiraterone and Olaparib, used in the treatment of different cancers also have been reduced.
However, Ribociclib used to treat breast cancer, remains unchanged at Rs 24,435. The cost of other originator brands, including Tagrisso, Tecentriq, Darzalex and Imfinzi, too, remain unchanged.
The new prices will take effect on November 9, following the NPPA’s decision to cap trade margins at 30% of MRP for 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs. The pricing was reduced after the Supreme Court questioned the high cost and the margins charged in the cancer treatment supply chain.
The revised prices list reflects the information submitted by companies up to October 27. It will be updated as and when manufacturers submit their revised prices of non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs.
S Srinivasan, Co Convenor of All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), said, even after reducing the prices the costlier medicines continue to stay that way. Many cancer patients in India still cannot afford them.
Today the prices have been fixed based on the Drugs (Prices Control) Order 2013 (DCPO 2013), in which the ceiling price is calculated with a simple average formula.
It ends up justifying the high cost of many medicines. Reducing the trade margin price alone will not help. “The price should be reduced based on the cost based formula of DCPO 1995,” Srinivasan suggested.
The regulator slashed the prices after it announced trade margin rationalisation (TMR) of 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs in public interest on October 17 to make cancer treatment more affordable.