India imposes 30 pct margin cap on cancer medicines prices

NEW DELHI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has imposed a 30 percent margin cap on the maximum retail price, amid complaints about exorbitant anti-cancer drug prices in the country over the years.

The cap would be imposed on non-scheduled cancer drugs. Essential cancer medicines included in the scheduled list were already subjected to strict government-set ceiling prices.

In an official statement issued by the Department of Pharmaceuticals in the Federal Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the government claimed that the move would save cancer patients in the country around 25 billion Indian Rupees (approx. 258.7 million U.S. dollars) annually.

The ministry's statement further stated that an expert committee under the Directorate General of Health Services will finalize the list of medicines to be covered, after which the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority would take a decision and issue a notification.

It was found that non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines carried an average price mark-up of approximately 170 percent, reaching 700 percent or more in some cases. The price rose sharply as the medicine moved through the supply chain before reaching the patients, the statement added.