During her presentation of the Union Budget 2024 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the exemption of customs duties on three new cancer medicines, aiming to reduce the financial burden on patients.
The health minister also highlighted modifications to the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on X-ray tubes and flat panel detectors used in medical X-ray machines as part of the Phased Manufacturing Program to “bolster domestic production capacity.”
Measures part of the government’s strategy to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility
These measures are part of the government’s larger strategy to improve healthcare affordability and accessibility while encouraging local manufacture and innovation in the medical industry.
The setting up of new medical colleges in Bihar was also announced in Parliament.
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Step forward in reducing costly treatment for cancer patients, say experts
Experts in the health sector have reacted to the government’s initiative, describing it as a step forward in reducing the burden of pricey cancer treatment for patients.
Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Founder & Chairman of Mahajan Imaging & Labs, and Dr. Shyam Aggarwal, Chairman of Medical Oncology at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, hailed it a positive step because it will lead to “spurring of indigenous manufacturing of digital X-ray machines in India.”
The three cancer drugs exempted from customs duty are Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib and Durvalumab.
Trastuzumab Deruxtecan: It is an antibody-drug combination used to treat metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer. It is also being investigated for usage in other forms of cancer, including stomach cancer.
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Osimertinib: This is a targeted therapy used to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who have certain EGFR mutations. It works particularly well against malignancies that have established resistance to previous generations of EGFR inhibitors.
Durvalumab: This is an immunotherapy medicine that works by inhibiting the PD-L1 protein, allowing the immune system to target cancer cells. It is used to treat NSCLC and bladder cancer.
