Hundreds of lifesaving cancer medications will now be available to Indian patients at a much cheaper cost, according to a recent announcement from the government’s pharmaceutical department.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) issued a list of 390 different anti-cancer treatment brands that are receiving price cuts, some of which are being cut by as much as 87%, effective immediately.
The list of price cuts brings 42 new unscheduled anti-cancer drugs that were previously unaffected by government regulation under a price cap that will offer financial relief to over 2.2 million cancer patients across the nation.
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The price cuts are expected to collectively save roughly 8 billion Rs ($115 million) in medical bills.
The government-regulated price cap is maintained as a means of preventing pharmaceutical companies and wholesalers from profiting off of essential anti-cancer treatments, according to The Times of India.
“The trade margin rationalization for 42 anti-cancer drugs was rolled out as Proof of Concept, stressing on the new paradigm of self-regulation by the industry,” said the NPPA in a statement. “The manufacturers of these 42 drugs have been directed not to reduce production volumes of brands under regulation.”
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