The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has set new prices for cancer medications by capping their retail prices and limiting trade margins to 30%. While this decision may provide some immediate relief to cancer patients, questions have been raised regarding its long-term impact.
According to a report by The Economic Times, the prices of cancer drugs were similarly reduced in 2019; however, since then, these prices have surged by 100% to 700%. Malini Aisola, a representative of the All India Drug Action Network, stated that a one-time reduction in prices or trade margins cannot offer a permanent solution to the problem. If there is no regular monitoring and no fixed, permanent price caps are established, pharmaceutical companies tend to raise prices again. For instance, the price of a medicine called Pemetrexed dropped from ₹7,000 to ₹800 in 2019. However, it recently rose again to ₹1,095; following the latest directive, it has now been reduced to ₹297.
Another aspect highlighted in this report is that there has been no significant change in the prices of highly expensive, patented medicines. The costs of costly injections and tablets—such as Keytruda (₹2.16 lakh), Tagrisso (₹4.16 lakh), and Koselugo (₹10 lakh)—have remained unchanged.
