CHENNAI: The basic customs duty on 17 high-cost cancer drugs was slashed in the Union Budget announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday. This is expected to make life-saving medicines more affordable.
The decision aims to ease the burden on families who depend on imported medicines that are either not manufactured in India or are priced beyond the reach of many patients.
Dr Kalpana, director, Adyar Cancer Institute, told DT Next that the high cost of several cancer drugs had made treatment difficult, particularly for patients from low-income groups. She said many of these medicines were not covered under government insurance schemes, forcing patients to spend well beyond their income. Waiving customs duty on these drugs would help patients complete their treatment and improve survival outcomes, she added.
In addition, drugs used for seven more rare diseases will now be eligible for customs duty exemption when imported for personal use. This is expected to ease the financial burden on families that depend on costly imported therapies.
The rare diseases include lysosomal storage disorders, Mucopolysaccharidosis, spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Wolman disease, hypophosphatasia, neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, cystic fibrosis and atypical haemolytic uremic syndrome.
Officials said the measures reflected the government's focus on making healthcare more affordable and inclusive by addressing high treatment costs and ensuring that patients are not denied life-saving care due to financial constraints.
Breast cancer - Ribociclib and Abemaciclib
CAR-T cell therapy - Talycabtagene autoleucel
Immunotherapy - Tremelimumab, Toripalimab, Serplulimab, Tislelizumab and Ipilimumab
B-cell cancers - Venetoclax, Inotuzumab and Ponatinib for leukaemia; Ibrutinib
Lung cancer - Ceritinib and Brigatinib
Prostate cancer - Darolutamide
Melanoma and other solid tumours - Dabrafenib and Trametinib