Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced duty exemption on three cancer drugs in the Union Budget 2024-25. These three drugs are Trastuzumab Deruxtecan, Osimertinib, and Durvalumab. Prior to the finance minister’s announcement, imports of these three drugs were subject to 10 percent duty. Cancer patients will really benefit from the announcement of this tax exemption? How these cancer drugs help in cancer treatment-
Trastuzumab Deruxtecan: It is a monoclonal antibody. It is used to treat breast and stomach cancers that have the HER-2 receptor. Currently, the price of this drug is around Rs 1.6 lakh per vial. Among women’s cancers, breast cancer is the leading cause of death.
Osimertinib: This drug is used to treat certain types of lung cancer. It blocks the activity of a protein that causes cancer cells to multiply. Lung cancer is the most difficult to treat. Lung cancer is the second-leading cancer killer among men. Osimertinib costs around Rs 1.5 lakh per strip. Each strip contains ten pills.
Durvalumab: This is an immunotherapy drug. It blocks a specific protein. As a result, the immune system is facilitated to attack cancer cells. This drug is used to treat certain lung and bladder cancers. Also used for liver and gallbladder cancer. The price of each 10 ml is about 1.5 lakh rupees.
Who makes these drugs?
All three drugs are patented by AstraZeneca. Who developed the Covid vaccine in collaboration with Oxford University? AstraZeneca manufactures and exports these three drugs to India.
How much benefit from the tax exemption?
A 10 percent duty exemption on these expensive drugs means that the financial burden on patients will be significantly reduced. These are all immunotherapy drugs. Works much better than other available therapies for certain types of cancer. These therapies are also offered to patients at Delhi AIIMS. However, the cost of all three drugs is usually more than one lakh rupees. Depending on the dosage, each patient spends up to Rs 5 lakh per month. So, even if the price goes down a little, the patients will benefit a lot. From that point of view, the decision of a 10 percent discount on import duty will greatly benefit the patients.
