In the Union Budget, the government exempted customs duty on three cancer drugs to reduce the financial burden of people suffering from cancer and also to facilitate accessibility.
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New Delhi: Manufacturers have started to reduce the maximum retail price (MRP) on three anticancer drugs — Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab drugs — as directed by the government to pass on the benefits to the consumers, the Parliament was informed on Friday.
The government had issued notifications to reduce basic customs duty (BCD) to zero on these three drugs/formulations, apart from slashing GST rates on these anticancer drugs from 12 per cent to 5 per cent, Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Anupriya Patel, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
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She said that in compliance with the notifications, manufacturers reduced the MRP on these drugs and filed the information with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The NPPA had issued a memorandum, directing the companies to reduce MRP on these drugs on account of reduction in GST rates and exemption from customs duties, so as to pass on the benefit of reduced taxes and duties to the consumers and to furnish information about change in prices.
For example, AstraZeneca Pharma India Ltd has reduced MRP per vial on several formulations. “As informed by the company vide letter dated 19.11.2024, downward revision on account of BCD becoming nil shall be implemented when the stocks benefitting from BCD relief are released for commercial sales in the market,” according to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.
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In the Union Budget, the government exempted customs duty on three cancer drugs to reduce the financial burden of people suffering from cancer and also to facilitate accessibility. The government also slashed the GST rate from 12 per cent to 5 per cent on these three cancer medicines. While Trastuzumab Deruxtecan is used for breast cancer, Osimertinib is for lung cancer; and Durvalumab is for both lung cancer and biliary tract cancer.
Cancer cases are rising significantly in India. According to a recent Lancet study, India registered about 12 lakh new cancer cases and 9.3 lakh deaths in 2019 — the second-highest contributor to the disease burden in Asia.
