Platinum prices doubled since June 2025, making cisplatin and carboplatin production unviable under India's price controls. One in five cancer patients faces treatment delays.
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India is running out of cisplatin and carboplatin, two backbone chemotherapy drugs. The shortage is not a manufacturing failure or a logistics breakdown. It is a raw-material crisis driven by a platinum price surge from ₹2,000 per gram to above ₹5,000 per gram since June 2025. Industry executives called the move unprecedented in 15–17 years.
The active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for both drugs is largely derived from platinum. With the metal more than doubling in five months, manufacturers face input costs that now nearly equal the maximum retail price set by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The result is a structural disincentive to produce. Smaller companies like Naprod Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. have already halted production entirely.
Cisplatin and carboplatin are standard therapy for head and neck cancers, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer, and several other malignancies. Doctors first noted the shortage of carboplatin two months ago, then cisplatin. The situation has worsened since. Cancer centres are now rationing doses and modifying regimens to stretch existing supplies.
Dr Kshitij Joshi, co-founder and director of MOC Cancer Care, a chain of daycare cancer centres, said roughly 20–40% of chemotherapy daycare patients need platinum-based drugs. For patients undergoing curative-intent treatment – treatment aimed at complete eradication of cancer cells – a delay of more than four weeks can increase the risk of mortality by 6% to 10%.
Dr Vijay Patil, consultant medical oncologist at PD Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, noted that alternatives exist for some situations but with limited evidence. Patients may also face higher costs when alternative regimens are required.
The cost pressure is compounded by government policy. India imports most of its platinum-based API. Importing requires a special permit from the government, a process that currently takes 3–4 months. Meanwhile, the government raised the import duty on platinum from 6.4% to 15.4% – a direct addition to manufacturers' cost base. The US dollar's strength against the rupee adds another layer of margin compression.
Mohan Jain, director at Naprod Life Sciences, which derives 15% of its revenue from these drugs, said: "The raw material for these drugs is largely imported. The government of India requires a special permit for import, which currently takes 3–4 months."
| Metric | Before June 2025 | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Platinum price (per gram) | ₹2,000 | > ₹5,000 |
| Import duty on platinum | 6.4% | 15.4% |
| Import permit processing time | 3–4 months | Same |
| Cisplatin retail price (50 mg) | ₹250–₹400 | Unchanged (price controlled) |
| Carboplatin retail price (per vial) | ~₹1,000 | Unchanged |
The table shows the core mismatch: input costs have surged while selling prices are frozen by regulation. Smaller manufacturers like Naprod have halted production entirely due to the API shortage.
Cisplatin costs approximately ₹250 to ₹400 per 50 mg at retail. Carboplatin runs about ₹1,000 per vial. These prices are set by the NPPA under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order. Manufacturers cannot raise prices without regulatory approval. When raw material costs exceed the selling price, production becomes financially unsustainable.
Jain said: "The shortage is likely to continue until platinum prices stabilise, import permits are processed faster, and domestic pricing allows sustainable production."
Manufacturers are in talks with the NPPA to revise prices. They are also engaging with the government to streamline the permit process and consider adjustments to import duties. No concrete changes have been announced.
The shortage affects 20–40% of chemotherapy daycare patients who need platinum-based drugs, according to Dr Joshi. For patients undergoing curative-intent treatment, a delay of more than four weeks can increase the risk of mortality by 6% to 10%.
Doctors are already rationing doses and modifying regimens to stretch existing supplies. Dr Patil noted that alternatives exist for some situations but with limited evidence. Patients may also incur higher costs when alternative regimens are required.
Practical rule: Platinum price direction over the next two quarters will dictate whether this shortage resolves or worsens. If NPPA revises prices and permit processing accelerates, the bottleneck could ease. If not, the mortality risk from treatment delays will become a measurable public health outcome.
Three variables will determine the timeline:
Longer-term measures include building buffer stocks of platinum-based APIs, diversifying API suppliers, and creating a national early-warning system for essential cancer drug shortages. Better coordination between regulators and manufacturers could prevent recurrence.
The next concrete markers are:
Until at least one of these moves materialises, the shortage will likely deepen. The 1-in-5 patient delay statistic is not a worst-case projection – it is the current trajectory.
For traders watching commodities markets, the platinum supply chain and India's regulatory response are the variables to track. The broader lesson extends beyond healthcare: price controls and import bottlenecks create fragility when input costs are globally determined and volatile. The same dynamic can appear in any industry where a regulated output price meets a floating input price.
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