India Faces Critical Cancer Medicine Shortage Amid Platinum Price Surge

India is grappling with a worsening shortage of platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, with supplies of cisplatin and carboplatin running critically low across hospitals and pharmacies during the first week of June 2026. Cancer patients are spending days searching multiple pharmacies to locate doses, and several government-run hospitals have reported being unable to maintain adequate stock of these essential medicines.

The drugs cisplatin and carboplatin form the backbone of treatment for many of the most common cancers, including those of the lung, ovaries, cervix, gall bladder, head and neck, bladder, and testicles. Oncologists estimate that at least a quarter of chemotherapy patients in India are prescribed platinum-based agents, and for many of these cancers there is no well-validated substitute. The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, which represents more than 1.24 million members, reports that distributors have been calling daily to flag their inability to source the medicines.

The shortage stems from two connected pressures. The first is a sharp rise in the cost of platinum, the key raw material used to produce these drugs. India imports its platinum, with much of the supply historically coming from South Africa, and that flow has tightened as global prices climbed and conflict in the Middle East disrupted shipping and trade routes. Platinum prices have rallied through 2025 and into 2026 on the back of a fourth consecutive year of projected market deficits, constrained mine output in South Africa, strong investment demand, and falling above-ground inventories. The metal climbed from under 1,000 dollars per ounce in early 2024 to above 2,300 dollars by early January 2026, and is widely expected to hold above 2,000 dollars through the year.

For Indian manufacturers, the price of platinum raw material has roughly doubled over the past year. According to Naprod Life Sciences, the cost rose to about 5,000 rupees per gram from around 2,000 rupees previously. The second pressure is regulatory. The government caps the retail prices of these essential medicines through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, so producers cannot pass rising input costs on to buyers. With margins on these older sterile injectable generics already thin, several drugmakers have found production unviable.

The situation has deteriorated noticeably over recent weeks. Distributors describe a supply crunch that began roughly two months ago and turned into a genuine shortage during the second half of May and into early June, as the West Asia conflict intensified and compounded vulnerabilities that have existed in the supply chain since cisplatin and carboplatin shortages were first reported in 2023. Naprod Life Sciences temporarily halted output of both cisplatin and carboplatin after struggling to secure platinum-based raw material.

Drugmakers have asked the government for relief. Naprod and others have approached the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority seeking an upward revision of the ceiling prices, requesting an increase of roughly 50 percent to reflect the higher cost of imported active pharmaceutical ingredients and import duties. On 1 April 2026, the authority raised ceiling prices by just 0.65 percent, a revision that did little for a product whose primary raw material had doubled in cost. As of early June 2026, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has acknowledged it is aware of the situation, but a fresh price revision had not been granted and the government had not publicly responded to detailed queries.

India produces these chemotherapy drugs through a range of generic makers, including large companies such as Cipla and Intas Pharmaceuticals, alongside smaller oncology specialists like Naprod Life Sciences and Venus Remedies. Because India is also a major exporter of generic chemotherapy ingredients and finished drugs, including to the United States and Europe where cisplatin and carboplatin have faced repeated shortages since 2023, the current disruption carries implications well beyond Indian borders.

Industry representatives say the immediate problem is raw material availability rather than pricing alone, and they expect supply to normalize once platinum sourcing improves. They have urged the government to help facilitate access to the raw materials. For now, patients and oncologists continue to ration available stock, prioritize the sickest cases, and search across regions to keep treatment going, leaving many families uncertain about securing the next dose.