4 replies to this topic

[Buzzm1]

New Cancer Drugs Show Promise - and Sky-High Prices

 

Newer cancer drugs that enlist the body's immune system are improving the odds of survival, but competition between them is not reining in prices that can now top $250,000 a year.

 

The drugs' success for patients is the result of big bets in cancer therapy made by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Merck & Co Inc and Roche Holding AG, among others in big pharma. The industry's pipeline of cancer drugs expanded by 63 percent between 2005 and 2015, according to the QuintilesIMS Institute, and a good number are reaching the market.

 

The global market for cancer immunotherapies alone is expected to grow more than fourfold globally to $75.8 billion by 2022 from $16.9 billion in 2015, according to research firm GlobalData. For a graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2omboI1

 

"For cancer drugs in general ... it is hard for us to drive down cost," said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts Holding Co, the nation's largest manager of drug benefit plans for employers and insurers. "You don't want to be in the position of being told to use the second best cancer drug for your child."

 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as President Donald Trump, have been grappling with how to restrain rising prescription drug costs. They have talked about solutions ranging from more price negotiation to faster approval of new drugs, often invoking increased competition between drugmakers.

 

Read more: http://www.thefiscal...Sky-High-Prices

[r06ue1]

Just wait til they come out with cures, I'd expect the cost to be multiple millions.

[rcase13]

Part of the problem is people like me. I would cash in everything I own for a cure. The drug companies know it and exploit it.

[chriskuo]

Basically, the prices are what the government and corporations are willing to pay. Individuals do not set the market price, except to the extent that they vote for congress members who vote to prohibit government negotiations.

And the prices mentioned in these articles really only apply to the US. Prices in other countries will generally be much much less.

[Jan0080]

Chris,

Your point is so correct. There is a mistaken belief that the free market is what makes the US so efficient. That only is true to a certain point. 100 years ago, we set up public utility commissions and anti-monopoly rules because we felt that not everything should be priced based on what the market will bear. None of us gravitated to this web site because of politics rather most of us were surprised when our Doc
asked us to repeat a blood test and then referred us to a Hematologist/Oncologist. But would any of us want Sprycel be the drug for "better" insurance plans and Gleevec be the drug for more basic insurance policies? (I am not saying that Sprycel is superior to Gleevec, but if it were, would we want a type of class warfare to determine which drug we received?). Should I get a chance of another 15 years of life while someone who lost their insurance because their employer went out of business be denied the same chance? For most citizens, these questions are not relevant. I am almost 67 and hope to retire soon. How Medicare pays for our drugs is not a trivial question for any of us.