Crucial drugs to be more affordable after GST cut

Several highly priced medicines ranging from those used to treat cancer, rare diseases and heart conditions will get cheaper for patients as the government on Wednesday drastically cut the GST rates, in a crucial step towards making healthcare more affordable.

At least 41 such drugs, many of which are patented and have no generic copies in India, will get cheaper. The drugs that have seen a GST cut to zero from 12% previously include Risdiplam for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), daratumumab for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, atezolizumab used to treat several cancer types, and avelumab for bladder cancer and kidney cancer.

Some other cancer drugs include pertuzumab (breast cancer) and brentuximab for Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Inclisiran, a novel patented drug to fight cholesterol from Novartis will also see the GST drop from 12% to zero rates.

"By easing the tax burden, the government has improved both accessibility and affordability," said Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), a lobby group which represents the largest domestic pharma firms. He added the move will ease financial burden particularly for cancer and other chronic diseases. "This is next generation reform where the government has looked at public health concerns holistically," he said.