Centre plans margin cap on select cancer drugs to reduce patients’ costs Cancer treatment may become cheaper as Centre proposes 30% trade margin cap

Cancer patients in India could soon get relief from the high cost of medicines, with the government planning to cap trade margins on selected expensive cancer drugs at 30% over their distributor price.

The proposed measure could bring down the maximum retail prices (MRPs) of some medicines by as much as 70%, according to sources in the Department of Pharmaceuticals. The move is expected to cover high-priced cancer medicines, including certain patented drugs, where large trade margins significantly increase the final price paid by patients.

The government’s decision is aimed at addressing steep mark-ups in the cancer medicine market and reducing the financial burden on patients and their families. The impact could be particularly significant for those undergoing prolonged treatment that requires repeated purchases of expensive medicines.

The proposed policy builds on a government pilot launched in 2019, when trade margins on 42 cancer medicines were capped. The latest initiative, however, is expected to focus specifically on costly medicines that are widely used for cancer treatment.

A committee headed by the Director General of Health Services is currently preparing the list of medicines that could come under the new pricing mechanism. For a drug to qualify, it will have to be approved for cancer treatment in India, be in frequent use and meet the government’s criterion of being expensive.

The new regime is expected to be implemented within the next 10 days.

However, the actual benefit to patients will depend on which medicines are included in the final list and how much of the reduction in trade margins is ultimately reflected in retail prices.

The government expects the measure to help reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on cancer treatment, particularly for patients dependent on high-cost medicines.