India Caps Cancer Drug Trade Margins Leaving Patented Therapies Unchanged
· Business · Indian Express, LiveMint
Pharmaceutical companies announced revised maximum retail prices after the Indian government capped trade margins for 137 cancer medicines. Out of 543 evaluated formulations, prices remained unchanged for 146, while 21 formulations saw reductions of less than Rs 100. Chemotherapy drug Thiotepa saw its price drop from Rs 80,071 to Rs 7,150 for a 100mg vial, and breast cancer immunotherapy drug Pertuzumab dropped from Rs 94,951 to Rs 30,593 for a 30mg vial. However, the prices of patented immunotherapy drugs such as Merck's pembrolizumab remained unchanged at Rs 2.16 lakh per 100mg vial. Novartis's ribociclib also maintained its price at Rs 24,435 for a pack of 21 pills despite prior affordability appeals in the Kerala High Court.
Why it matters
Cancer patients will see price relief on select generic chemotherapy drugs, but expensive patented therapies remain unaffected by the trade margin cap.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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