New Delhi, October 18 (IANS). There is news of great relief for cancer patients. The government has capped the trade margin on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs at 30 per cent of the maximum retail price (MRP). With this decision of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the price of many cancer medicines is expected to be reduced by up to 70 percent.
The move is part of the Trade Margin Rationalization (TMR) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, aimed at curbing excessive margins in the distribution chain.
All manufacturers have to inform NPPA about their revised prices within 7 days of publication of the Gazette Notification. The revised prices will be effective from November 9, 2026. Manufacturers will have to display the price list on their website and inform all retailers and hospitals about the same.
All retailers and hospitals will charge the lower prices from 9 November 2026 and will display the revised prices in their pharmacies. Hospitals will also prominently display the revised prices on their websites. Consumers can use the Pharma Sahi Daam app and NPPA website to check the revised prices.
The government says the initiative will help reduce the financial burden on patients and their families by making anti-cancer drugs more affordable and accessible.
The 137 identified drugs include immunotherapy drugs used to treat more than 20 types of cancer, denosumab used by breast and prostate cancer patients, pegfilgrastim used to prevent neutropenia in cancer patients and bevacizumab approved to treat colon, ovarian and cervical cancer.
With this notification, MRPs of widely used anti-cancer drugs like pembrolizumab, durvalumab and osimertinib are expected to become more accessible to patients.
The intervention is based on NPPA's 2019 pilot exercise, under which trade margins on 42 anti-cancer drugs were capped at 30 per cent. Following that exercise, the MRP of 526 brands of non-scheduled cancer drugs was reduced by 90 per cent.
–IANS
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