New Delhi/ Mumbai: An acute shortage of widely used and price-controlled anti-cancer drugs cisplatin and carboplatin amid high raw material cost has triggered the government to invoke emergency clauses to ease their availability. The move may make these formulations, considered irreplaceable first-line chemotherapy agents, costlier by 50% or even more.ET in April reported that raw material cost had sharply increased for these platinum-based drugs and that the industry had warned of a shortage unless prices were increased to make their production viable.According to documents assessed by ET, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has granted an in-principle approval for invoking Paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013-a rarely used provision that allows the government to revise drug prices beyond the standard annual ceiling in exceptional circumstances. The approval given by the union minister for chemicals and fertilisers also covers two formulations of anti-tetanus immunoglobulin injection. Manufacturers have been seeking price hikes for the drug formulations.The current price for carboplatin capped by the government under provisions of the Drug Price Control Order is ₹61.10 per 10 mg/ml vial. For cisplatin, it ranges from ₹70 to ₹300 per vial based on drug strength.The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is expected to notify the revised prices in the next few days.Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital in Mumbai, the country's most renowned cancer treatment centre, had warned about alarming shortages of carboplatin and cisplatin even as demand for cancer treatment continues to rise sharply across India. Oncologists warn that any prolonged disruption in their supply could leave thousands of cancer patients without timely treatment with potentially fatal consequences.In a letter dated June 7, the DoP asked the NPPA to assess the actual increase in raw material costs and use that as the basis for determining how much of a price hike is justified. A parliamentary standing committee formula, capping revisions at 10% per year from the last-fixed price with a maximum of 50% hike in exceptional circumstances, has been cited as a guiding benchmark though actual cost data will take precedence, according to the letter.The NPPA had received applications from multiple pharmaceutical companies seeking price hikes for 82 formulations, citing rising cost of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), escalating production expenses and foreign exchange fluctuations. An inter-ministerial committee examined all applications but recommended price revision for only four-cisplatin, carboplatin and two anti-tetanus formulations-in view of the significant increase in API costs and concerns regarding their availability.On the remaining 78 applications, the committee has sought additional information for further examination."NPPA is also advised to examine in other cases where the industry has requested for price increase due to raw material cost increase on similar lines," the DoP said.Shyam Aggarwal, chairman and head of the Department of Medical Oncology at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said the government decision to examine raw material cost data and industry requests demonstrates responsiveness to the ground realities faced by oncologists and patients.