Tata Memorial Centre-led project aims to slash cancer drug costs by up to 99 percent

A groundbreaking pilot initiative in India, led by the prestigious Tata Memorial Centre, a leading cancer hospital, has shown remarkable cost savings (averaging 82 percent) through the "pooled purchasing" of essential oncology and supportive-care medications. A study detailing the feasibility of this pooled procurement method, which involves group negotiations and agreement on pricing, was published in a World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin in June. The authors of the study include doctors from Tata Memorial Centre, including Director C.S. Pramesh, as well as professionals from the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Puducherry and the Zulekha Yenepoya Institute of Oncology in Yenepoya, among others.