137 cancer drugs: cap from 9 Nov

This note is NEED TO KNOW. The stamp is verified. It is the notification that two earlier notes were still waiting for. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority's Gazette order S.O. 5690(E), dated 17 October 2026, was read with Press Information Bureau release PRID 2324743, issued at 6:53 pm that day. The Times of India, The Hindu BusinessLine, The Hindu, The Indian Express and News on AIR are the other reports in the package. A recheck at 11:45 am IST on 18 October, across the Gazette record, PIB, BusinessLine, The Hindu, The Indian Express, Business Standard and BW Businessworld, found the order unchanged: no corrigendum and no stay. The carousel was posted at 11:47 am IST.

On 10 October the published note was the approval only. NPPA had not yet notified the cap. That note is here: Centre caps trade margins on non-scheduled cancer drugs at 30% of MRP. On 13 October a separate note on the Supreme Court hearing recorded that the notification was still not out, and that a DGHS list was due on 14 October. That note is here: SC hearing: stent prices and a cancer-drug margin cap. The order of 17 October is the new step. It is not a retelling of the hearing.

The order caps the trade margin at 30 percent of MRP, excluding GST, on 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs listed in Table B. It is made under paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. Patented drugs are covered. The caption says the list covers branded, generic and patented drugs, whether the drug is sold alone or in a combination. PIB's examples are pembrolizumab, durvalumab, osimertinib, bevacizumab, denosumab and pegfilgrastim. The caption names pembrolizumab, osimertinib, bevacizumab and denosumab. Those names are examples. They are not the whole list of 137.

The caption defines the trade margin in one line: the gap between MRP, excluding GST, and the price at which the company sells the drug to the stockist, called PTS. That gap is the earning of distributors, stockists and chemists. The order's formula is MRP = PTS × {1 + TM/(100 − TM)} + GST. PTS in the order is the price to the stockist for March 2026. The order's own illustration uses an MRP of Rs 300 plus GST and a PTS of Rs 70. The new maximum MRP is Rs 70 × (1 + 30/70), which equals Rs 100 plus GST. If a drug's MRP is already lower than the cap allows, that lower MRP is to be maintained. The order does not contain a percentage by which prices will fall.

PIB says the MRP is expected to come down by up to 70 percent, depending on existing price structures. The Times of India, in a report timed 3:32 am IST on 18 October, says prices of the 137 drugs are set to be reduced by up to 70 percent from 9 November, and it refers to a 42.9 percent mark-up on PTS. BusinessLine, at 10:00 pm on 17 October, says 30 percent of MRP excluding GST works out to a maximum of 42.86 percent over PTS or PTD. Those percentages are the outlets' and PIB's. They are not a figure printed in the order as a saving.

Revised prices take effect on 9 November 2026. Companies have 7 days to file the prices. The order also says production is to be maintained, so that supply is not cut, which is the caption's reading of that rule. From 9 November, the caption says, chemists and hospitals are to charge the revised MRP and display the price list. A price can be checked on the Pharma Sahi Daam app or at nppa.gov.in, which is the route PIB and the caption both give. The order says an overcharge can be recovered with interest. The caption says a buyer can report an overcharge to NPPA or the State Drug Controller.

The photograph is representational: generic capsules, NIAID, 11 May 2017, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. It is not a cancer drug and shows no brand. The other slides are NP graphics.