Patients across India will pay far less for hundreds of cancer medicines from November 9, after the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Wednesday, October 28, published revised maximum retail prices for 543 brands of anti-cancer drugs. For some brands, the new price is roughly a tenth of the old one.
The list, issued through the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, is based on figures that companies had submitted by October 27. The government said it will keep adding to it as more manufacturers file their revised prices.
How big are the cuts?
Some of the sharpest reductions are on drugs used for breast, blood and other cancers:
- Anarzole (anastrozole 1 mg, RPG Life Sciences): a pack of 10 tablets drops from ₹695.76 to ₹73.
- Palbopro (palbociclib 125 mg): a pack of 21 capsules falls from ₹40,421.33 to ₹2,720.
- Samtepa (thiotepa 100 mg injection): from ₹80,071.86 to ₹7,150.33 per vial.
- Bevacizab (bevacizumab 100 mg/4 ml, Abbott Healthcare): from ₹21,767.70 to ₹5,930.13 per vial.
- Debrumab (denosumab 60 mg, RPG Life Sciences): from ₹22,031.25 to ₹5,941 per pre-filled syringe.
- Azacytin (azacitidine 100 mg injection, Dr Reddy’s): from ₹6,337 to ₹1,495.04.
What led to the revision
The new prices flow from an October 17 order in which the NPPA applied trade margin rationalisation to 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs. These are medicines whose prices are not directly fixed by the regulator. Under the order, issued under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, trade margins on these drugs along the supply chain were capped at 30% of the retail price, and companies were told to file revised MRPs.
The 137 drugs include immunotherapy medicines used for more than 20 types of cancer, as well as denosumab, pegfilgrastim and bevacizumab. The government has said the aim is to rein in excessive margins, widen access to treatment and ease the financial burden on families. The Supreme Court has also been pressing the Centre on whether similar margin caps should cover non-patented medicines more broadly.
Doctors welcome it, activists want more
Oncologists broadly welcomed the step. Dr Sandeep Nayak of MACS-Renova Oncology Institute in Bengaluru called it a positive move but said cheap, life-saving drugs must stay viable for companies to make and sell.
Jan Swasthya Abhiyan India, a public health network, said the scale of the cuts itself raises questions about how companies had been pricing these medicines. It argued that the formula still allows a 42.8% markup over the price to stockist, far above the 16% margin allowed on scheduled drugs, and that many patented cancer drugs remain out of reach. The group asked the NPPA to verify company-reported prices independently and to make the margin caps permanent and enforceable.
What happens next
The revised MRPs apply from November 9, and the NPPA list will be updated on a continuing basis as more brands are filed. Doctors say lower prices could help patients avoid delaying or skipping doses, though they add that wider insurance cover and more generic and biosimilar options are still needed to make cancer care affordable.
