NPPA slashed prices of 390 anti-cancer medicines. Some brands with high MRPs likely to see up to 25% cut. The latest list expands the number of brands impacted by the move to 390 from 105 earlier, however, it leaves out brands belonging to seven of the 42 drugs targeted by the regulator.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said retail pricing data procured from pharmaceutical companies has shown that maximum retail prices (MRPs) under the price caps will drop for 390 formulations, the falls ranging from 3 per cent to over 80 per cent.
The NPPA had on March 27 imposed a 30 per cent cap on profit margins on various drugs used to treat breast, cervical, lung and ovarian cancers, leukemia among other malignancies. The move — restricting profit margins along the drug distribution chain, including for hospitals — comes amid long-standing demands by patients’ rights groups for enhanced price controls to curb profiteering through inflated MRPs.
The new figures released by the NPPA show significant drops for medicines such as paclitaxel, a drug used in the treatment of breast, cervical, lung and ovarian cancers. The revised MRP of one brand of a 260mg injection of paclitaxel, for example, is Rs 1,203, an 86 per cent drop from its earlier MRP of Rs 8,800. A brand of a 100mg vial of paclitaxel will now cost Rs 3,917, a 87 per cent fall from its earlier cost of Rs 3,917.
A brand of a 150mg tablet of erlotinib used to treat lung cancer, among other malignancies, will now cost Rs 2,080, a 75 per cent drop from its earlier MRP of Rs 8,550. And the MRP of a drug called erbulin mysylate used to treat breast cancer will fall by about 3 per cent.
The NPPA said the revised prices will come into effect from Friday. The agency said the list of revised MRPs for 390 formulations of anti-cancer drugs it has now released is based on information submitted by drug companies.