Cancer medicines get cheaper from tomorrow, 9 November. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the trade margin on 137 anti-cancer drugs at 30% of the MRP. Prices fall by up to 93% on some brands. The government expects patients to save about ₹3,502 crore a year.
Updated: 8 November 2026, 10:30 AM IST
Quick Read
- From 9 November, revised MRPs apply to 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs — about 900 brands — under an NPPA order of 17 October 2026.
- Price cuts run up to 93%; one brand fell 96.45%. But 146 of 543 listed entries show no change at all.
- Check your medicine’s new price on the NPPA website or the Pharma Sahi Daam app before you pay.
What the government has done
The NPPA issued the order on 17 October 2026. It uses Paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013. That paragraph lets the government fix drug prices in the public interest, even for drugs that are not on the usual controlled list.
These 137 drugs are “non-scheduled”. That means their launch prices were set freely by companies. The NPPA has now capped the trade margin — the gap between the price a company charges a stockist and the MRP the patient pays — at 30% of the MRP, excluding GST. In plain terms, the middleman’s cut cannot be more than 30% of the final price.
The order covers all strengths, forms and combinations of the 137 drugs, including patented drugs.
The revised prices take effect on 9 November 2026. A medicine already priced below the new limit cannot be made more expensive. The Gazette notification is SO 5690(E), dated 17 October 2026.
How much cheaper, in real rupees
The NPPA has published revised MRPs for 543 brands, based on company data up to 27 October. By 7 November, per a fresh PIB release, 76 companies had reported revised MRPs for 1,225 formulations covering 121 drugs. Prices fell in 1,031 of those formulations. Six hundred brands fell by more than 50%. The single steepest cut is 96.45%.
Here are four brand examples from the NPPA list, as reported by PharmaNow and the New Indian Express. The percentages are our own calculation from the old and new MRPs:
| Brand (drug) | Old MRP | New MRP | Cut (our calc.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anarzole (anastrozole, 10 tabs) | ₹695.76 | ₹73.00 | ~90% down |
| Fulbreca (fulvestrant) | ₹26,072.16 | ₹5,491 | ~79% down |
| Bevacizab (bevacizumab, 4 ml vial) | ₹21,767.70 | ₹5,930.13 | ~73% down |
| Azacytin (azacitidine) | ₹6,337 | ₹1,495.04 | ~76% down |
Anarzole treats breast cancer. A drug that cost ₹26,000 now costs about ₹5,500.
But read the small print. Not every drug falls. A News18 reading of the NPPA table found 397 of the 543 entries fell, while 146 showed no change at all. Only about one in six brands fell by more than ₹10,000 in rupee terms, per a Civilsdaily analysis of the same list. And some of the costliest drugs did not move.
The hard truth: some famous drugs did not get cheaper
This is the part other headlines skip. Two of the best-known names in the 137-drug list — pembrolizumab and osimertinib — show no price change in the published table, per the News18 analysis. Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy used for more than 20 types of cancer. Osimertinib treats a type of lung cancer.
Why no cut? These are single-company, patented drugs. With no rival brand, the trade margin was already low — there was little middleman mark-up to cut. The cap bites hardest where many brands compete and distributors took huge cuts. Where one company sells direct, there is nothing to trim.
The same logic applies to the costliest drugs. Nearly 194 brands in the list saw no cut, and some cost up to ₹10 lakh, per the Civilsdaily analysis. Palbociclib is the rare exception: one brand fell from about ₹40,000 to ₹2,720.
So: many cancer drugs get much cheaper from 9 November. Some do not change at all. Check your own medicine.
Which drugs are covered
The 137 drugs include immunotherapy drugs used for more than 20 types of cancer, per the PIB release. Named in the release: pembrolizumab, durvalumab, osimertinib and talquetamab. Also named: denosumab, used by breast and prostate cancer patients; pegfilgrastim, which prevents a dangerous drop in white blood cells during chemotherapy; and bevacizumab, for colon, ovarian and cervical cancer.
The government’s savings estimate has moved twice: ₹3,357.49 crore in a 6 November factsheet, then ₹3,502.31 crore in the 7 November PIB release. Both numbers are projections on past sales. They are not money already saved. The real saving depends on how many patients buy the cheaper drugs in the coming year.
Also read: GST collections hit ₹2.31 lakh crore in October 2026
How to check your medicine’s new price
Do this before your next purchase. It takes five minutes.
Step 1: Get the exact details. Write down the brand name, the drug name, the strength (for example, 100 mg), the form (tablet, injection, vial) and the pack size. Two brands of the same drug can have different prices.
Step 2: Open the NPPA website. Go to nppa.gov.in and look for the revised MRP list for anti-cancer medicines. Or open the Pharma Sahi Daam app on your phone. Both are free. Both carry the official list.
Step 3: Match all five details. Search by brand name, then check that the strength, form and pack size match your prescription. A 10-tablet pack and a 30-tablet pack have different MRPs.
Step 4: Compare with the shop bill. The chemist cannot charge more than the revised MRP from 9 November. If the bill is higher, show the NPPA list, and report the chemist to the NPPA or your state drug controller.
Step 5: Ask your doctor, not the chemist. Do not switch brands on your own. If your brand did not get cheaper, ask your doctor whether a cheaper brand of the same drug is safe for you. Never change a cancer drug without medical advice.
What this does NOT fix
Cheaper drugs are not the same as affordable cancer care. Tests, scans, hospital stays, surgery and radiotherapy sit outside drug price control. A debate in The Hindu on 6 November made this point plainly: a lower MRP helps, but the full treatment bill is much bigger than the drug bill.
There is another gap. The cap controls the gap between the stockist price and the MRP. It does not control the stockist price itself. Analysts quoted by the New Indian Express warn that companies could blunt the effect by raising the base price. The NPPA will need to watch that. The industry argues caps squeeze research and supply. The government argues patients come first.
What comes next? The Centre is now looking at anti-infectives, where the NPPA found trade margins above 100%. No plan exists to extend the cap to more cancer drugs.
Also read: India services PMI at 55.8 in October
The bottom line for patients
If you or a family member takes a cancer drug, check the NPPA list tonight. Many drugs are far cheaper from tomorrow. Some are not. The difference could be thousands of rupees a month.
A 2019 pilot showed this can work. Back then, 42 drugs were capped and 526 brands got cheaper. This time the net is wider — 137 drugs, about 900 brands. But the saving only reaches you if you check the price and insist on it.
FAQ
Q: From when do the new cancer drug prices apply?
A: From 9 November 2026. The NPPA order of 17 October 2026 caps trade margins at 30% of MRP for 137 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs. Revised MRPs for 543 brands have been published so far, and the list is still being updated.
Q: How do I check my cancer medicine’s new price?
A: Use the NPPA website (nppa.gov.in) or the free Pharma Sahi Daam app. Match the brand name, strength, form and pack size exactly. The chemist cannot charge more than the revised MRP from 9 November.
Q: Did all cancer drugs get cheaper?
A: No. Of 543 published brand entries, 397 fell and 146 showed no change, per a News18 reading of the NPPA table. Costliest single-company drugs like pembrolizumab and osimertinib show no cut. Also, hospital stays, tests and surgery are outside price control, so total treatment cost may stay high.
Also read
- GST collections hit ₹2.31 lakh crore in October 2026
- India services PMI at 55.8 in October
- 8th Pay Commission: salary hike timeline and fitment factor guide
Sources
- PIB — “Trade Margin Rationalisation on 137 Anti-Cancer Drugs”, 17 Oct 2026 (primary source for the order, the 30% cap, the 9 Nov date and the named drugs): https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2324743&lang=1®=3
- New Indian Express — SC leads fight to prevent fleecing of cancer patients; 543 brands, brand examples, analyst caution on base prices: https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/explainers/2026/Oct/31/sc-leads-fight-to-prevent-fleecing-of-cancer-patients
- NationPress — Cancer drug prices cut up to 96% under NPPA cap: https://www.nationpress.com/business/cancer-drug-prices-cut-up-to-96percent-under-nppa-cap
- PharmaNow — NPPA cancer drug prices, 30% margin cap, brand table (Anarzole, Fulbreca, Azacytin): https://www.pharmanow.live/knowledge-hub/market-trends/nppa-cancer-drug-prices-30-percent-margin-cap
- BioSpectrum — NPPA trade margin rationalisation, 137 drugs, savings estimate: https://www.biospectrumindia.com/article/pdf/28746
- The Daily Jagran — Centre turns spotlight on anti-infectives next; no extension to more cancer drugs: https://www.thedailyjagran.com/india/news/after-cancer-drug-price-cuts-centre-turns-spotlight-on-anti-infectives-with-high-trade-margins-10335533
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
