Govt. caps trade margins on 137 anti-cancer drugs

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has undertaken trade margin rationalisation (TMR) of 137 identified non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs.

“The move is aimed at making cancer treatment more affordable, and improve access to anti-cancer medicines,” said a senior Union government official.

The move is expected to bring down the maximum retail price (MRP) of the identified non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs by up to 70%, depending on their existing price structures.

The revised prices will be effective from November 9.

“This intervention builds upon the success of NPPA’s 2019 pilot TMR exercise, under which trade margins for 42 anti-cancer drugs were capped at 30%. Following that exercise, MRP of 526 brands of non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines was reduced by up to 90%. The present exercise extends this approach to a larger set of anti-cancer drugs, based on the list recommended by the Expert Committee under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS),” notes a release issued by the Centre.

It added that an expert committee comprising leading oncologists, medical specialists, experts from hospitals across the country, and government officers recommended 137 drugs for inclusion under TMR. “This list would be updated periodically,” said the release.

Considering the drugs recommended by the committee, NPPA has capped the trade margin at 30% of the MRP in accordance with paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013.

“Price of these medicines even after margin cap will remain out of reach of many people. The move alone will not bring down the cost of treatment because hospitals may find ways to charge high prices on other items, consumables, diagnostics, consultation charges, etc,” said K.M. Gopakumar, co-convenor of the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatments.