The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped trade margins on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs at 30 per cent of their maximum retail price (MRP), in a move the regulator says could reduce the prices of several cancer medicines by up to 70 per cent, depending on their existing price structure.

The revised prices will take effect from November 9, 2026, under a Gazette notification issued on October 17. The cap was imposed under Paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, following recommendations of an expert committee under the Directorate General of Health Services, comprising oncologists, medical specialists, hospital experts and government officials.

The list includes immunotherapy drugs used for treating over 20 types of cancer, denosumab used by breast and prostate cancer patients, pegfilgrastim used to prevent neutropenia, and bevacizumab, approved for colon, ovarian and cervical cancers; widely used medicines such as pembrolizumab, durvalumab and osimertinib are also covered.

The exercise builds on NPPA's 2019 pilot, which capped margins on 42 anti-cancer drugs at 30 per cent and reduced MRPs of 526 brands by up to 90 per cent.

Manufacturers must inform NPPA of revised prices within seven days of the notification and publish the lists on their websites; from November 9, retailers and hospitals must charge the reduced prices and display the revised lists, and consumers can check prices on the NPPA website and the Pharma Sahi Daam app.

Sources: IANS, PTI, NPPA official statement.