New Delhi, Oct. 12 -- India's cancer patients could see the prices of many medicines fall by as much as 70% if the government's proposed cap on trade margins across non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs takes effect.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the country's drug pricing regulator, on 8 October approved the capping of trade margins at 30% of the maximum retail price (MRP) across non-scheduled anti-cancer medications. The move follows scrutiny by the Supreme Court, which termed tenfold hospital markups in the drug as "carnage" and "broad daylight dacoity".

With out-of-pocket spending accounting for nearly 75% of India's cancer care costs, the move could offer relief to patients who bear much of the financial burden of...