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-The Hindustan Times
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Cancer drugs will cost almost 25% less if the regulator implements a new formula that calls for a price cap. The price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is considering a pricing mechanism similar to the one for insulin products - which has brought down prices by<br />
up to 40% - for 33 cancer drugs, most of them generics.
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Basically, the lowest price from the list of drugs in a particular category will be the maximum that would be billed to a patient. Pharma firms will not be allowed to sell cancer drugs above the ceiling price.
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At present, prices of cancer drugs are not regulated. The NPPA allows a maximum of 10% increase in prices in a year.
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When the new pharma policy, expected in May, is implemented, prices of 33 cancer drugs of the 138 available - both patented and generics - in the Indian market will be regulated by the NPPA.
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&quot;We have not finalised a new price mechanism but our approach is to adopt a mechanism on the lines of insulin pricing, tweaked according to the incoming DPCO (Drug Price Control Order),&quot; NPPA chairman CP Singh told HT.
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&quot;Prices will fall by 10-25% even if DPCO 2013 asks us to follow the simple average method under the new drug policy.&quot;
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The DPCO, which is yet to give its nod to the NPPA plan, decides the pricing policy.
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State drug controllers have been asked by the NPPA to collect price data from market and pharma firms.
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&quot;For patients, a fall in prices is a blessing. Most of the 33 cancer drugs are generics, and not innovators, which will offer a level-playing field to the companies,&quot; said Ranga Iyer, former president of Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India.
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The relief will come close on the heels of the Supreme Court dismissing Swiss drugmaker Novartis attempt to win patent protection for its cancer drug Glivec.
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 It is estimated that every year more than 7,00,000 people are detected with different types of cancer in India. By 2030, India's cancer rate, says World Health Organisation, will grow by 78%.
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