Spesolimab

New Delhi: Executing the much-awaited overhaul of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the GST Council has brought a major relief for patients by reducing the indirect tax on medicines to 5 per cent, along with exempting as many as 36 life-saving medicines and other critical drugs. The GST council—a statutory body highest decision making body on indirect taxes led by the Union Finance Ministry at its 56th meeting in the national capital has recommended to reduce the GST on all drugs and medicines (finished formulations) from 12 per cent to 5 per cent under the new two-tier tax structure of 5 and 18 per cent slabs to be effective from September 22. Additionally the body has also recommended to exempt GST on 33 lifesaving drugs and on 3 other medicines used for treatment of cancer, rare diseases and other severe chronic diseases. Speaking at a press briefing after the council 10.5-hour long marathon meet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “all recommendations have been cleared with zero reservations and have corrected various inverted duty structure problems, classification related issues and that this rationalization exercise will bring predictability and stability of GST.” “These reforms have been carried out with a focus on the common man, and after a rigorous evaluation process in most sectors including healthcare, the rates have come down drastically, she added. Previously, medicines in India were taxed at 5 per cent for life-saving and essential drugs, and at 12 per cent for others but following the announcement all medicines will attract a standard duty of 5 per cent with extensions for several medicines specified at the end of this article. Welcoming the move, Sudarshan Jain, Secretary General, IPA said, “the decision to exempt life-saving and cancer medicines from GST, is a step that will bring direct relief to patients and their families. and, the reduction in GST on a wide range of medicines from 12 per cent to 5 per cent will further help to ease the overall treatment burden and make essential therapies more affordable.” Meanwhile, for companies, the clarity on a 5 per cent slab and exemptions removes long-standing ambiguity, enabling transparent pricing and better market planning. The move will expand access in semi-urban and rural markets, ease litigation, and free up resources for innovation, said Manoj Mishra, Partner and Tax Controversy Management Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat LLP. Notably, on the issue of inverted duty involving APIs and key starting materials—which are currently taxed at 18 per cent against 12 or 5 per cent for finished formulations—further clarity is awaited from the industry. ETPharma earlier reported that, in a letter to the Finance Minister, the national chemist body, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) had urged, “to bring all medicines including vitamins, probiotics, nutritional, food supplements under the 5 per cent GST slab. The rate rationalization comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pitched for introducing next-gen reforms across sectors to “increase ease of living for the common man and strengthen the economy.” However, this rationalization brings a revenue shortfall challenge for governments with states likely to bear a greater share of the burden, as they receive over 40 percent of the inter-state inflows in addition to their own SGST collections. Responding to a media query at the media briefing Arvind Shrivastava, Revenue Secretary said that, based on the consumption of FY23-24 the ministry has estimated that the net revenue implication of this proposal will be around Rs 48,000 crore. “However the exercise will trigger buoyancy effects and will have a positive impact on consumer and compliance. And therefore we believe this proposal will be fiscally sustainable both for centers and the states,” Shrivastava noted. ' S.no. Drug Indication Brand name and (Company) 1 Onasemnogene abeparvovec SMA (One-time gene therapy) Zolgensma (Novartis) 2 Asciminib Blood Cancer Scemblix (Novartis) 3 Mepolizumab Asthma Nucala (GSK) 4 Pegylated Liposomal Irinotecan Pancreatic Cancer Onivyde (Ipsen) 5 Daratumumab Cancer Darzalex (J&J subsidiary) 6 Daratumumab subcutaneous Cancer Darzalex Faspro (J&J subsidiary) 7 Teclistamab Blood Cancer Tecvayli (J&J subsidiary) 8 Amivantamab Lung Cancer Rybrevant (J&J subsidiary) 9 Alectinib Lung Cancer Alecensa (Roche) 10 Risdiplam SMA Evrysdi (Roche) 11 Obinutuzumab Blood Cancer Gazyva (Roche) 12 Polatuzumab vedotin Blood Cancer Polivy (Roche) 13 Entrectinib Cancer Rozlytrek (Roche) 14 Atezolizumab Cancer (PD-L1 immunotherapy) Tecentriq (Roche) 15 Spesolimab GPP flares Spevigo (Boehringer Ingelheim) 16 Velaglucerase Alpha Gaucher Vpriv (Takeda) 17 Agalsidase Alfa Fabry disease Replagal (Takeda) 18 Rurioctocog Alpha Pegol Hemophilia Adynovate (Takeda) 19 Idursulphatase Type II Mucopolysaccharidosis Elaprase (Takeda) 20 Alglucosidase Alfa Pompe Myozyme (Sanofi) 21 Laronidase Type I Mucopolysaccharidosis Aldurazyme (Sanofi) 22 Olipudase Alfa ASMD Xenpozyme (Sanofi) 23 Tepotinib Lung Cancer Tepmetko (Maerck KGaA) 24 Avelumab Cancer (PDL-1 immunotherapy) Bavencio (Pfizer) 25 Emicizumab Hemophilia Hemlibra (Roche subsidiary) 26 Belumosudil cGVHD - 27 Miglustat Gaucher Zavesca (J&J subsidiary) 28 Velmanase Alfa Alpha-mannosidosis - 29 Alirocumab Cholesterol lowering drug (LDL-C) Praluent (Sanofi) 30 Evolocumab Cholesterol lowering drug (LDL-C) Repatha (Amgen) 31 Cystamine Bitartrate Cystagon - 32 CI-Inhibitor injection Hereditary Angioedema - 33 Inclisiran Cholesterol lowering drug (LDL-C) Leqvio (Novartis) 34 Agalsidase Beta Fabry disease Fabrazyme (Sanofi) 35 Imiglucerase Gaucher Cerezyme (Sanofi) 36 Eptacog alfa activated recombinant coagulation factor VIIa Hemophilia NovoSeven Note: Above is the list of medicines exempted from GST tax recommended by the 56th GST Council Meet/ Source: PIB By Abhijeet Singh ,