Context: The Union government decided to cap trade margins at 30% of Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs to improve affordability and reduce patients’ out-of-pocket expenditure.
- Coverage: Branded and generic; domestic and imported; patented and non-patented medicines.
- Implementation: An expert committee under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will finalise the list of covered medicines.
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) findings: Average trade mark-up was around 170%, reaching up to 700% in some cases.
- Objective: Curb excessive trade margins and make cancer treatment more affordable.
- NPPA: Attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers; regulates prices of drugs under the applicable drug-pricing framework.
- Drug price regulation: The Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, provides the framework for regulating drug prices. Scheduled formulations are subject to price controls; non-scheduled formulations are also subject to applicable monitoring and regulatory provisions.
