India cuts cancer drug costs after court ruling
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The gist
India will cut prices of 137 cancer drugs by up to 70 per cent from November 9.
The cap follows Supreme Court criticism of steep markups on medicines.
Background
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), India's drug price regulator, capped trade margins at 30 per cent of the maximum retail price for 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs, and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers announced the resulting reduction of up to 70 per cent. The order followed sharp criticism from the Supreme Court, where a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned how a drug sold to retailers for Rs 2,700 could carry an MRP of Rs 27,000. The push traces back to a Kerala High Court ruling on two patented breast cancer drugs, Ribociclib and Abemaciclib, retailing at ₹66,000 and ₹90,000 per month, which reignited debate on India's compulsory licensing framework.
How it unfolded
- 2012The Indian Patent Office granted a compulsory licence to Natco Pharma to produce and sell sorafenib tosylate, a cancer medicine patented by Bayer and marketed as Nexavar.
- 2019Price controls were introduced on 42 anti-cancer drugs, cutting prices by as much as 90 per cent.
- Sep 29, 2026A Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned how a drug sold to retailers for Rs 2,700 could carry an MRP of Rs 27,000, calling the disparity "broad daylight dacoity" and "carnage".
- Oct 17, 2026The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said India would reduce prices of as many as 137 cancer drugs by 70 per cent, limiting trade margins to 30 per cent of the maximum retail price.
- Oct 18, 2026NDTV reported the NPPA capped trade margins at 30 per cent for 137 identified non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs, with revised prices effective November 9, 2026.
- Oct 27, 2026The Supreme Court scheduled its next hearing to examine wider pharmaceutical pricing.
- Nov 9, 2026Revised lower prices for 137 anti-cancer drugs are scheduled to officially take effect.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- The Kerala High Court held that patent rights cannot impede the state's obligation to secure affordable, life-saving medicines, but left the decision on a generic production licence to the government.
- Party
- A petitioner, a breast cancer patient, urged the court to direct the Central Government to invoke Section 100 of the Patents Act, allowing government-use licensing without the patent holder's consent.
- Caution
- Novartis, maker of ribociclib, and Eli Lilly, maker of abemaciclib, told the court their drugs were costly to develop, though they reportedly gave no figures.
- Analysts
- The Supreme Court bench questioned why restrictions on excessive margins should be confined to cancer drugs rather than extended to other essential medicines.
Still unverified
Novartis and Eli Lilly reportedly gave no figures on their development costs. Estimates that compulsory licensing could push monthly costs of Ribociclib and Abemaciclib below ₹5,000, and that the measure could save patients 2,500 crore rupees annually, are projections rather than confirmed outcomes.