Tax cut won’t mitigate high prices for cancer, rare diseases medicines, say patient advocacy groups

Custom duty waiver for expensive cancer drugs doesn't address high prices due to patent monopolies, offering minimal relief to patients.

The recent Union Budget announcement provided custom duty waiver to 36 exorbitantly priced cancer and rare diseases drugs, but patient advocacy groups highlight that the tax cut doesn’t tackle the underlying problem of high prices due to patent monopolies that block local production and offer very little to ease the financial hardship faced by patients. 

“The move is like a band-aid. The drugs that are listed for custom duty waiver are generally those that are not in local production, are under a patent monopoly and block generic competition,” said Leena Menghaney, lawyer and consultant, specialising in public health.

Example is a rare disease drug Risdiplam — over which a major patent dispute is being fought in the Delhi High Court and a compulsory licensing petition is pending before the Kerela High Court.

This medicine is under a patent monopoly till 2035, and Roche has not granted any voluntary licence for its local production and supply at an affordable price. 

“This results in a lack of competition and an exorbitant and unaffordable price for the persons living with spinal muscular atrophy,” said Ms. Menghaney. 

The MRP of the drug Risdiplam is over ₹6 lakh per bottle and even with discounts from Roche the drug is over ₹2 lakh per bottle. 

So, for a patient weighing more than 20 kg, a bottle will last only for 12 days and over the course of the year he/she will require approximately 30 bottles per year, amounting to ₹1,80,00,000 and with a discount ₹61,15,200 per patient/ per year.