3 ms·
This deserves some emphasis. This is the kind of chemical you just have around in the lab in a 1kg package. I just checked, and 1kg was around 150EUR from Sigma
by fabian2k 10y ago
This deserves some emphasis. This is the kind of chemical you just have around in the lab in a 1kg package. I just checked, and 1kg was around 150EUR from Sigma Aldrich.
The medical version this is about are 5 ampules of 1g each. And those 5 ampules cost nearly 27,000 USD.
The cost of the EDTA itself is a rounding error in the whole thing. Of course the comparison is not fair, there is quite a bit more to creating a drug out of it. But increasing the price from 950 USD to 26900 USD can't really be justified by any underlying costs.
- pkaye 10y agoAre there no competitors making the medical version?
- HarryHirsch 10y agoNo. The market is so small that for low-volume generics there is usually just one manufacturer. There's also the moat for competitors to surmount, they must prove equivalency of their galenic form, a certification that the incumbent already has had for decades.
- pkaye 10y agoSeems much like countries have strategic oil reserves they need strategy sourcing of medicines. Make sure there are multiple suppliers and negotiate long term deals.
- barry-cotter 10y agoAnother way of looking at it is that this is the FDA's fault. If the US Congress were to pass a law permitting importation of (generic) drugs from other first world countries with competent drug regulators this problem would not exist. This is exactly the same thing as happened with Martin Shkreli, as is happening at the moment with nitroglycerin for heart problems and it's all the FDA's fault.