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The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug in the world.
Hemgenix is a gene therapy to treat adults with hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder in which people do not produce a protein needed to create blood clots. About 1 in 40,000 people have the disease, most of whom are men.
My question is what insurance would cover such an expensive drug?
First the insurer will negotiate a more favorable rate.
Secondly, insurers will cover this therapy if the cost of the current standard treatment is less than the new. The cost includes expenses due to complications. The issue with the new drug, is its lack of long-term data and sothe ability to do outcomes research is limited. Hemophilia treatment is expensive. My guess the awp of the medication is based on the average cost of current treatment. That was how the hepatitis c cures were priced.
Gene therapies are intended to be a one-time treatment. One shot and you are cured for life (too early to tell if that's really true, however). So you'd have to balance the cost of this therapy against the cost of a lifetime of standard hemophilia treatments.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug in the world.
Hemgenix is a gene therapy to treat adults with hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder in which people do not produce a protein needed to create blood clots. About 1 in 40,000 people have the disease, most of whom are men.
My question is what insurance would cover such an expensive drug?
The better questions would be:
1. Who did all the R and D? Many universities do a lot of R and D then the drug companies get a patent.
2. For anyone that gets this treatment, is the money actually going to the people who did the R and D. Or just another rent seeking corporate douchebag like Martin Shkreli?
3. Hemophilia is a genetic condition. If we are now capable of giving someone a normal life and undo bad luck. Are we really a country that wants to allow a company to extort 3.5 million from a guy who lost on a genetic lottery just so that person can live a normal life?
1. Who did all the R and D? Many universities do a lot of R and D then the drug companies get a patent.
2. For anyone that gets this treatment, is the money actually going to the people who did the R and D. Or just another rent seeking corporate douchebag like Martin Shkreli?
3. Hemophilia is a genetic condition. If we are now capable of giving someone a normal life and undo bad luck. Are we really a country that wants to allow a company to extort 3.5 million from a guy who lost on a genetic lottery just so that person can live a normal life?
Not to mention that quite a lot of research is funded through govt grants, so that money is more than likely the taxpayers’.
Are we the kind of country that wants people to live normal productive lives.
Or
Are we the country that wants people to live normal productive lives as long as the elites get a cut.
We are the kind of country that will send trillions of dollars and millions of arms abroad to kill millions of people to ensure the world complies with our govt’s (and elites)wishes
Last edited by Frank DeForrest; 11-26-2022 at 08:08 AM..
1. Who did all the R and D? Many universities do a lot of R and D then the drug companies get a patent.
2. For anyone that gets this treatment, is the money actually going to the people who did the R and D. Or just another rent seeking corporate douchebag like Martin Shkreli?
3. Hemophilia is a genetic condition. If we are now capable of giving someone a normal life and undo bad luck. Are we really a country that wants to allow a company to extort 3.5 million from a guy who lost on a genetic lottery just so that person can live a normal life?
No the university or researcher owns the patent. They either sell or license the patent to the manufacturer so it can be brought to market.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug in the world.
Hemgenix is a gene therapy to treat adults with hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder in which people do not produce a protein needed to create blood clots. About 1 in 40,000 people have the disease, most of whom are men.
My question is what insurance would cover such an expensive drug?
I would like Australian pharma company CSL Behring to justify the price tag.
This type of price tag is not good news for those paying in to health care plans in the US, whilst countries with Universal Health Care systems may question the price tag in relation to tax payers money, as well as effectiveness when compared to alternative treatments.
This has echoes of the Orkambi cystic fibrosis drug, although some Governments managed to negotiate a lower price in order to sign a deal, whilst the drug was not patented in Argentina, so can be made by other companies, and a generic version is available from the Argentinian company Gador.
Whether some countries just refuse to patent Hemgenix remains to be seen.
Last edited by Brave New World; 11-26-2022 at 08:29 AM..
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