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Cancer Drug Price Caps May Block New Medicines In India
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CNBC TV18•09-10-2026, 11:27
Cancer Drug Price Caps May Block New Medicines In India
- •The government proposal to cap trade margins on non-scheduled cancer treatments at 30% is expected to have a minimal impact of 1-2% on hospital EBITDA.
- •BS Ajai Kumar of HealthCare Global warns that extending aggressive price controls to patented medications could prevent new drugs from entering India.
- •Kumar highlighted that 131 cancer drugs are already under price control, leading to shortages of essential medications like Cisplatin and Taxol.
- •HCG rejected rumors of exorbitant margins on oncology products, stating that overall margins hover around 20% with much lower profit after tax.
- •Industry experts suggest that regulatory bodies should focus on treatment quality and reducing India's high cancer recurrence rate rather than strict price controls.
Key Questions Answered
Industry experts note that the 30% trade margin cap is expected to have a minimal impact on hospital earnings, with EBITDA reduction estimated at no more than 1-2%.
BS Ajai Kumar cautioned that aggressive price controls on patented medications could severely restrict access and stop new life-saving drugs from coming to India, similar to how existing caps caused shortages of essential drugs like Cisplatin and Taxol.
While the government recently approved a 50% increase in ceiling prices for key medicines like Carboplatin and Cisplatin to tackle supply disruptions and high API costs, it is separately capping trade margins on non-scheduled cancer drugs at 30% to lower overall patient treatment costs.
