Cancer drug shortage in India: platinum prices push chemo to the brink

16 June 2026

India is grappling with a severe shortage of two cornerstone chemotherapy drugs, cisplatin and carboplatin, as soaring platinum prices, higher import duties, and regulatory delays make production financially unsustainable.

These drugs, critical in treating ovarian, cervical, lung, bladder, head & neck, and testicular cancers, have become increasingly scarce in hospitals across the country, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

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