The drugs listed for custom duty waiver are mostly those not available in the country and are under a patent monopoly. Duty waiver will not be enough to make these drugs affordable to patients, activists told ET.
“The custom duty waiver on some of the exorbitantly priced cancer and rare diseases drugs is welcome but is like a band-aid and does not highlight the underlying problem of high prices due to patent monopolies that block local production,” said Leena Menghaney, lawyer and consultant, specialising in public health, pharmaceuticals and intellectual property.
At present, the import duty on such drugs is 10%, though some are eligible for a lower tax.
“People would be better served with government use of compulsory licences,” said Chinu Srinivasan, co-convenor at All India Drug Action Network (Aidan), a patient rights group.According to health activists, only a negligible number of people who are in dire need of treatment can afford to import these drugs despite the proposed import duty cut.”The tax exemption is needed for those drugs which are approved by the drug regulator in India,” an activist said on condition of anonymity.
Activists have been demanding GST exemption on drugs available in the country, but the government is yet to budge.
Several such requests have been made before the finance ministry and the health ministry for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. SMA is a rare and devastating genetic disease caused by a lack of a functional survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene, resulting in the rapid and irreversible loss of motor neurons, affecting muscle functions, including breathing, swallowing and basic movements.
Risdiplam, a drug against SMA, figures in the list of drugs exempted from customs duty. Activists said it will not benefit patients in the country.
“What is required on this is exemption of 12% GST,” said Archana Panda, cofounder and director, patient advocacy cure, at SMA Foundation of India. “For Risdiplam, the custom duty exemption is not going to help patients. Why would we import in USD when the drug can be purchased in INR?”
Panda said there are around 1,050 registered patients from all over India. Her organisation also approached the Supreme Court two years back for GST exemption on Indian drugs.
“The Supreme Court said that it is a policy decision and, therefore, they cannot intervene… They were of the opinion that the health ministry should be able to do this. However, GST exemption on medicines available in India is still pending,” Panda said.
In India, Roche Pharma’s drug Evrysdi (Risdiplam) is available for the fatal genetic disorder. Roche doesn’t manufacture it in India, but they have market authorisation by the drug regulator and, hence, the drug costs much less than the imported options.
The price of the Roche drug depends on the weight of the patient. For example, for a 60kg patient, it costs around ₹72 lakh annually with their patient support programme.
