Experts reveal 'troubling' industry-employed strategies to delay availability of generic cancer drugs http://goo.gl/65KGvW
"Because of these arrangements and perceived 'oligopolies' that persist for another 6 months, the generic company was able to set the price of the generic at 70% of the patented price for an additional 6 months," Kantarjian said. "The yearly cost of imatinib is around $130,000, so the generic cost will be about $90,000, which is what the patented drug cost us just 2 years ago. Moreover, the effective additional 1 year of high drug price extension will cost the U.S. health care system up to $3 billion for this one drug, and prevent thousands of patients from having access to an affordable drug."
The Federal Trade Commission has estimated that pay-for-delay settlements cost taxpayers, consumers and insurance companies approximately $3.5 billion per year. The U.S. Supreme Court and state Supreme Courts have posited that these payments could violate antitrust statutes.
Novartis Imatinib (Gleevec) Pricing
$24K/yr. 2001 intro
$132K/yr 08/2015
U.S. generic available 02/01/2016 will cost almost 4 times the original 2001 price
Novartis's greed sucks; the cost of generic Gleevec elsewhere http://bit.ly/1vvuCg3
R&D costs for Gleevec http://keionline.org/node/1697
The "genius" of BIG PhRMA is in buying votes in Congress ..
BIG PhRMA is the highest spending Lobby in Washington DC
Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee http://bit.ly/11EEmWL
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee http://bit.ly/1L7Qek9
all of Congress http://bit.ly/1a2QiUB