(Representative image)

NEW DELHI: Drug pricing regulator NPPA has slashed price of cancer drugs by up to 86 per cent since March last year providing relief to lakhs of patients.

There has been "a significant price reduction in cancer drug prices since March 2016", the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said in a tweet.

The drugs include Iressa of AstraZeneca Pharma India, whose price has been bought down from Rs 29,259 to Rs 3,977, a reduction of 86 per cent and Dr Reddy's laboratories' Grafeel - the price of which has been slashed by 41 per cent, it said.

The reduction is in the price range of 86 per cent to 13 per cent, NPPA said.

The other pharma players the prices of whose cancer medicines have been reduced are Natco Pharma and Emcure pharmaceuticals among others, it added.

In the diabetes segment also, there has been reduction in prices of the drugs, the regulator said.

The prices have been reduced in the range of 42 per cent to 10 per cent, it added.

While prices of Glypride of Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd were reduced by 42 per cent, from Rs 91 earlier to Rs 53 after the revision, the drugs of other players have also witnessed reduction in the prices.

The other drugs whose prices were reduced include Dr Reddy's laboratories Glimy, Obimet of Abott India, Cetapin of Sanofi India and Lupin's Gluconorm, it added.

Set up in 1997, NPPA has been entrusted with the task of fixation/revision of prices of pharma products, enforcement of provisions of DPCO and monitoring of prices of controlled and decontrolled drugs.

