India has capped the retail prices of 42 cancer drugs

• Drug pricing regulator NPPA's new notification caps prices of 42 cancer drugs
  
• Roche, Biocon, Mylan, and Dr Reddy's Laboratories among companies that may be hit
  
• The new notification has also fixed the retail margin on drug for type-2 diabetes

India's National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the prices of 42 medicines that are used to treat different types of cancers.

The formulations whose retail prices have been fixed include Trastuzumab injection indicated for treatment of metastatic breast cancer and gastric cancer. The regulator has also fixed the prices for Metformin plus Gliclazide tablets used for treatment of type 2 diabetes, among others.

Retail price of these drugs cannot be more than 30% over their cost of procurement. "Due to prevalent inequalities, out of pocket expenditure on medicines is the single largest contributor to pushing families beyond poverty threshold in the country. Thus, ensuring affordable drugs is a necessary pre-requisite for bringing down the overall healthcare expenses and to achieve the overall goal of affordable healthcare for all," the notification said.

One major factor that contributes to high drug prices in India is unreasonable high trade margin. The high margins are in form of incentive and an indirect marketing tool employed by drug companies, the NPPA said citing the findings of the Competition Commission of India.

Among the formulations whose ceiling prices have been revised include Budesonide inhalation used for preventing symptoms of asthma and Gentamicin injection used for treatment of bacterial infections.

Here is the full list of cancer drugs who prices have been capped.

1 Azacitidine
2 Bendamustine Hydrochloride
3 Bortezomib
4 Crizotinib
5 Cytarabine
6 Dasatinib
7 Decitabine
8 Doxorubicin HCI Pegylated Liposomal Injection
9 Enzalutamide
10 Epirubicin
11 Eribulin mesylate
12 Erlotinib HCI
13 Estramustine phosphate
14 Everolimus
15 Exemestane
16 Fulvestrant
17 Irinotecan HCI Trihydrate
18 Lapatanib
19 Leuprolide acetate depot for Inj.
20 Lomustine
21 Mitoxantrone
22 Nilotinib 5
23 Plerixafor
24 Carfilzomib
25 Cladribine
26 Triptorelin
27 Pomalidomide
28 Osimertinib
29 Pegasperagase
30 Regorafenib
31 Ribociclib
32 Clofarabine
33 Sunitinib
34 Olaparib
35 Olaratumab
36 Paclitaxel (Protein-bound particles)
37 Cabazitaxel
38 Bevacizumab
39 Lenalidomide
40 Pegfilgrastim
41 Mitomycin
42 Pemetrexed