Cipla slashes prices of three more cancer drugs

Six months after drug-maker Cipla slashed prices of three cancer drugs (See: Cipla slashes prices of three key cancer drugs), the company today announced another breakthrough price reduction in three more anti-cancer drugs - Erlotinib (Erlocip), Docetaxel (Docetax) and Capecitabine (Capegard).

Cipla has halved, and in some cases cut prices by more than 60 per cent, on the three anti-cancer drugs.

These drugs are for the treatment of lung and pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, bladder, colorectal and colon cancers, the company said in a release.

''Continuing its contribution towards affordable and accessible treatment for patients, Cipla extends the work done in HIV/AIDS and malaria to now include cancer, not only in India but globally,'' announced Dr YK Hamied, chairman and managing director, Cipla Limited.

Cipla is reported to have opened a new factory in Bangalore dedicated to making raw materials for anti-cancer drug, so as to achieve backward integration.

In May this year, Cipla had slashed prices on Sorafenib (Soranib), Gefitinib (Gefticip) and Temozolomide (Temoside).  In a move that did not go down well with global pharmaceutical majors,  aweek later Cipla said it would slash prices of six more cancer drugs a decade after it shook multination giants by slashing prices of AIDS, and later, malaria drugs. 

''We are working to reduce prices of at least six more cancer drugs. These are on humanitarian grounds, as most of the drugs are highly priced in most of the markets. We are yet to finalise the drugs and the pricing,'' Cipla chairman and managing director Dr Y K Hamied hasd then said. (See: Cipla to slash prices of six more cancer drugs). 

In 1997, Cipla had established the Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre in Pune, to provide care to advanced stage cancer patients. Today, it is one of the few centres in India offering the best-in class palliative care to cancer patients.

The Centre provides free treatment and has cared for over 8,000 patients till date. It has also trained a large number of nurses in advanced palliative care.

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