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Even if this perfect magical cure exists, it doesn't guarantee that we can witness or access it. Dr. Carl June, leading a charity and publicly funded program,
by serguzest 3y ago
Even if this perfect magical cure exists, it doesn't guarantee that we can witness or access it.
Dr. Carl June, leading a charity and publicly funded program, developed CAR T cell gene therapy, which successfully cured leukemia. However, it somehow ended up in the hands of Novartis. The cost of a single therapy was $20,000, but now it is being sold at price of $475,000, making it unaffordable for the majority of people. Have you ever heard about this?
https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/30/149399/the-fda-has-approved-the-first-gene-therapy-for-cancer/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/08/30/149399/the-fda-h...
https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/08/big-pharma-novartis-to-charge-475000.html https://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/08/big-pharma-novart...
- ldhough 3y agoWell this is despicable...
- klmr 3y agoIt’s also completely untrue. In reality the high cost is not because of greed but because of high manufacturing cost and the necessity for long hospital follow-up. Novartis is also not the only manufacturer providing CAR-T drugs at a high price. And lastly, they offer alternative payment programmes to make the therapy more affordable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAR_T_cell#Economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAR_T_cell#Economics
- serguzest 3y agoStart listening from 46:30 You can hear how much does it cost in research phase, it would be much cheaper in mass production not more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQfFCC6i5_o&t=2792s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQfFCC6i5_o&t=2792s I am sure pharma industry has similar excuses for why Epipen 10x expensive in America compared to other parts of the world.
- ldhough 3y ago> high manufacturing cost and the necessity for long hospital follow-up The lead researcher behind the treatment claims the treatment cost under $20k to administer though, and I've never heard of mass production/adoption causing the cost of a product to go up in price (edit: excepting certain luxury goods that go up because they're a status symbol or something), certainly not >20x more... I know nothing about the medical field so I'm open to having my mind changed but that completely defies intuition. After seeing $450 bags of saline on a medical bill I had last year I'm much more inclined to believe they're just price gouging. > Novartis is also not the only manufacturer providing CAR-T drugs at a high price. I guess more than one company can do something despicable? > offer alternative payment programmes The "alternative payment programme" mentioned is "requiring payment only if the CAR T therapy induces a complete remission by a certain time point after treatment." I'd much rather pay $20k whether it succeeds or fails than $475k if it succeeds and $0 if it fails, if it fails I'm probably dead and don't care very much...
- bawolff 3y ago> The cost of a single therapy was $20,000, I mean, a single person who is not an accountant and sounds like they possibly have an axe to grind is not the most compelling source for how much the treatment really costs novatis to deliver.
- adamredwoods 3y agoCAR T therapy is incredibly laborious. https://www.dana-farber.org/cellular-therapies-program/car-t-cell-therapy/how-car-t-cell-therapy-works/ https://www.dana-farber.org/cellular-therapies-program/car-t...
- 7moritz7 3y agohttps://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/24/725404168/at-2-125-million-new-gene-therapy-is-the-most-expensive-drug-ever https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/24/7254041...