She needs Rs 80,000-a-month cancer drug to stay alive. Now, she fears she may not be able to afford it

After breakfast, Majida takes three tablets of the targeted therapy drug ribociclib, sold as Kryxana in India and Kisqali globally, and begins work from home.

8 min readSep 14, 2026 09:58 AM IST First published on: Sep 14, 2026 at 09:58 AM IST

For nearly a year, 49-year-old Kerala lawyer Majida MA has started her mornings with a phone call from a friend. The call is a reminder to take the medicine that, in her words, is keeping her breast cancer at bay.

After breakfast, Majida takes three tablets of the targeted therapy drug ribociclib, sold as Kryxana in India and Kisqali globally, and begins work from home. She has not been able to work from the office next to her house because it is not air-conditioned. The drug causes itching and mood swings, she says, making it difficult for her to work in the heat. “Other than that — and sometimes hair fall, body ache and some discolouration of the skin — I actually do not feel like a cancer patient at all,” she says.