Hospital stocks including Fortis Healthcare, Dr Agarwal’s, Manipal, Apollo Hospitals and Medanta gained up to 5% on Friday, after the government decided to cap trade margins on non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs at 30%, a move that could reduce the prices of several cancer medicines by up to 70% and save patients an estimated Rs 2,500 crore annually.
The move is aimed at curbing excessive mark-ups in the distribution chain and improving affordability of cancer treatment while ensuring continued availability of these medicines. The policy extends the govt’s earlier trade-margin cap which applied to only select oncology drugs.
