The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority previously imposed a 30% trade margin cap on selling prices in February 2019, but recent evaluations indicate mark-ups have since surged past allowable thresholds. Out of 34 overlapping medicines reviewed across regulatory cycles, an overwhelming majority climbed to mark-ups between 100% and 700% prior to recent interventions. Public health advocates at the All-India Drug Action Network argue that isolated price cuts fail to provide lasting consumer relief. For example, a brand of the anti-cancer drug Pemetrexed previously dropped from Rs 7,000 to Rs 800, but experienced a much smaller reduction from Rs 1,095 to Rs 297 under the newest pricing l…
Key points
One-time maximum retail price interventions fail to prevent pharmaceutical mark-ups from…: One-time maximum retail price interventions fail to prevent pharmaceutical mark-ups from climbing back up over time.
Advocates maintain that price controls are ineffective without permanent margin caps and…: Advocates maintain that price controls are ineffective without permanent margin caps and ongoing market monitoring by regulators.
Multiple original patent-holding pharmaceutical corporations have managed to avoid deep r…: Multiple original patent-holding pharmaceutical corporations have managed to avoid deep retail price cuts across both regulatory cycles.
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Anti-cancer drugs show mark-ups of up to 700% despite NPPA's 2019 price curbs, raising questions over one-time price cuts
A look at the mark-up on some of the drugs on which National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) put a trade margin cap of 30% on selling price in Feb 2019 shows that a majority had mark-ups of 100%-700% in the Authority's 2026 list. Citing this data, the All-India Drug Action Network, which works on access to affordable medicines, pointed out the futility of one-time MRP reduction as a policy measure in the absence of a mandate to maintain permanent margin caps along with consistent monitoring.Of the 137 anti-cancer drugs that NPPA listed for reduction of trade margin, 34 are from the 2019 NPPA list of 42 anti-cancer drugs. However, the recent list put out by NPPA, showing steep reduction in MRP, reveals that most drugs from the 2019 list that feature in the 2026 list have breached the 43% mark-up level. This level is equivalent to a 30% trade margin because while the margin is calculated as a percentage of the…
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