Why two critical cancer drugs just got costlier in India

In a major policy shift that underscores the severity of India's healthcare crisis, the central government has formally approved emergency price hikes for cisplatin and carboplatin, two foundational chemotherapy drugs currently facing an acute, nationwide shortage.

The decision, reviewed by News18, marks the first official acknowledgment at the highest level of government that the scarcity is critical enough to demand immediate intervention. For months, the pharmaceutical industry has lobbied the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for a 75 per cent to 100 per cent hike on these tightly regulated medications to make manufacturing financially viable again.

Why the two drugs are vital?

The shortage had severely disrupted treatment schedules at India’s premier oncology centers, including at AIIMS Delhi and the Tata Memorial Centre.

Both cisplatin and carboplatin are classified under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), meaning the government recognises them as vital to basic public healthcare. They serve as the absolute "backbone" of standard curative regimens for a number of cancers such as lung and head and neck cancers; ovarian and cervical cancers; testicular cancer, said reports.

According to oncologists, there are no true medical substitutes for these specific platinum-based agents, added the reports.

Also read: How customs duty exemption on 17 cancer drugs will impact patients

Prolonged shortages are forcing dangerous therapy delays and suboptimal drug substitutions, which may lead to affect patient survival rates and also increase the risk of cancer recurrence.

Reasons for the shortage

One of the reasons for the shortage of these two drugs is the global surge in the price of raw platinum, the basic component used to make the drugs' Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). There has been a 225 per cent spike in raw platinum costs over recent years, with a staggering 100 per cent jump in just the last six months, according to the pharmaceutical industry.

This surge is fuelled by severe production deficits in South Africa and ongoing conflicts in West Asia that have blocked key shipping corridors. Crucially, the UAE, India's largest supplier of raw platinum, is also facing export disruptions.

Also, the retail price of these chemotherapies deemed "scheduled formulations" under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), have been tightly capped by the government. Over the last decade, regulated ceiling prices were allowed to rise by only about 22 per cent. Therefore, domestic drug manufacturing companies scaled back or completely halted production to avoid devastating financial losses.

Looming public threat

Cancer remains one of India's most severe and accelerating public health crises. The disease currently affects approximately 100 individuals per 100,000 in the country, and incidence rates are projected to climb steeply in the coming years.

Also read: A turmeric-based anti-cancer drug could be in the offing

With a massive proportion of India's cancer patients relying on either Cisplatin or Carboplatin at some point during their lifecycle of care, the government’s emergency price correction aims to immediately incentivise domestic manufacturers to resume full-scale production and stabilise the life-saving supply chain.