Health ministry welcomes move to exempt 3 cancer drugs from customs duty

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) The custom duty exemption proposed for three cancer medicines in the Union Budget will improve the affordability of the drugs, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The request for custom duty exemption for Trastuzumab deruxtecan (for breast cancer or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma), Osimertinib (drug for lung cancers with specific mutation), and Durvalumab (for lung and biliary tract cancers) was forwarded by the Health ministry to the Ministry of Finance keeping in view 27 lakh cancer patients in the country.

The government proposes to cut customs duties on the three drugs from 10 per cent to nil.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also revised the custom duty rates on X-ray tubes and flat panel detectors, a move which is expected to positively impact the X-ray machine industry by enhancing component availability at lower costs.

“This change is anticipated to boost the domestic medical device sector, contribute to component availability at lower costs and reduced healthcare costs, making advanced medical imaging more accessible and affordable,” the ministry said.

The budget expenditure for FY 2024-25 under the National Health Mission (NHM) has also been increased from Rs 31,550 cr to Rs 36,000 cr.

The NHM is a central sponsored scheme which primarily caters to the primary and secondary healthcare service delivery in the nation.

The focus of the government is to invest in primary and secondary public healthcare facilities for implementing the preventive and curative aspects of health to reduce the out of pocket expenditure of the public at large, the ministry said.

To drive productivity gains, business opportunities, and innovation by the private sector, the budget proposes the development of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) applications at a population scale.

“These initiatives aim to enhance various sectors, including credit e-commerce, education, health, law and justice, logistics, MSME services, delivery, and urban governance,” it stated.

Trastuzumab injection 440mg/50ml is a scheduled drug. Its current applicable ceiling price is Rs 54,725.21 per vial. However, its other strength variants are not under the schedules list. Trastuzumab comes in different strengths and dosages with a combined annual turnover of more than Rs 276 cr, the ministry said.

The other two medicines — Osimertinib and Durvalumab — are non-scheduled medicines. Hence, NPPA monitors the maximum retail price (MRP) of the non-scheduled formulation to ensure the same does not increase by more than 10 per cent of MRP during the preceding 12 months. The annual turnover of Durvalumab for 2023-24 was Rs 28.8 crore, the ministry said.

Osimertinib is covered under the list of 42 anti-cancer drugs for which trade margin was regulated under Trade Margin Rationalisation. As per the data available with NPPA, the annual turnover of Osimertinib in 2023-24 was Rs. 52.26 crore, it stated.

To promote domestic manufacturing of medical X-Ray machines and specified sub-assemblies parts/sub-parts, a Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP) was notified whereby tariff changes at an increasing rate were proposed in a phased manner on medical X-Ray machines and specified sub-assemblies and parts used in manufacturing of X-Ray machines.

The PMP was aimed at enabling medical X-Ray machines and related sub-assembly and parts industry to plan their investment in the sector and increase domestic production, keeping in view the escalating duty structure on X-ray machine and related sub-assembly/parts/sub-parts. This was expected to increase domestic value addition and establish a robust medical X-Ray machines manufacturing eco-system in India.

However, the industry informed the department of pharmaceuticals that manufacturing capacity for X-ray tubes and flat panel detectors is yet to develop in the country and sought revision in the PMP schedule relating to these items, the ministry said.

As it may take at least two years before sufficient domestic capacity is established for X ray tubes and flat panel detectors to meet domestic requirement, the Ministry of Finance has revised the duty rates for them.