U.S. drug company sues Canada for trying to lower cost of $700K-a-year drug - Polidicks

[quote]A U.S. drug company is taking the Canadian government to court for its attempt to lower the price of what has been called the world's most expensive drug. Alexion Pharmaceuticals has filed a motion in Federal Court, arguing that Canada's drug price watchdog has no authority to force the company to lower its price for Soliris. The company says in the court documents that the price of Soliris has not changed since it went on the market about six years ago and that the price difference between the two countries reflects the difference in exchange rates between the U.S. and Canada. The medication is approved to treat two rare blood diseases that affect about one in every one million people. A 12-month treatment costs about $700,000 in Canada, while in the U.S. it costs about $669,000. ... A University of Ottawa professor who specializes in health law said he was shocked that Alexion would challenge Canada's authority to regulate drug prices. If Alexion's case is successful, it could end Ottawa's ability to control the cost of patented drugs, Amir Attaran told CBC News.[/quote] Source: [url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/u-s-drug-company-sues-canada-for-trying-to-lower-cost-of-700k-a-year-drug-1.3242172[/url] The article also mentions that the disease is life threatening, and symptoms range anywhere from anemia, blood clots, organ failure, and will eventually lead to death. It says that Soliris is also not a cure, and therefore needs to be administered indefinitely, which can rack up to tens of millions of dollars in one person's lifetime. I feel I should also mention that this is not the same company that raised the price of Daraphrim (Turing Pharmaceuticals). This company is called Alexion, and Soliris is the only drug this firm owns, yet it still has managed to get them more than $6 billion dollars of revenue over the course of 8 years that it has been on the market.

[QUOTE]Soliris is the only drug Alexion produces, but it's earned the firm revenues of more than $6 billion overeight years.[/QUOTE] I think they've made enough to make up for R&D and enrich themselves for the risk they took. Now its just selfishness.

If the drug doesn't cost absurd amounts to research and develop then it's selling price should reflect that. Pricing life saving drugs like that purely for profit is fucking dispicable.

It also sounds like if Alexion succeeds and beats Ottawa in this suit, it'll make Canada open season for other drug companies, and allow them to hike up the price of their drugs as much as they want without fear of regulation. It's disgusting.

This is straight up screwed up. Is this what a live representation of clicking on the blue bubble of cure research in Plague Inc. looks like?

Seriously, I think the fuck up with that retard who raised the price of the AIDS drug to 750$ a tab is going to raise massive awareness on pharmaceutical companies with over-expensive drugs, so I guess we can give him credit for that.

Another example of a pharma corp trying to screw people over, I hope the Canadian government takes a leaf out of our book and just goes 'haha no' by making them comply with the price reduction. Like hell, they made 6 billion $ on it already, why not show some humanity and agree with the government's decision? but hey, as long as they don't care for anything other than their bottom line, why would the ongoing bankruptcy of several suffering people matter to them?

[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;48757951] but hey, as long as they don't care for anything other than their bottom line, why would the ongoing bankruptcy of several suffering people matter to them?[/QUOTE] Canada has its fair share of "don't interfere with the markets you socialist". In fact it elected a few of them.

Applying capitalism to healthcare... it's basically extortion. Like some evil supervillain holding an antidote and making demands for its use.

[QUOTE=No_Excuses;48758202]Applying capitalism to healthcare... it's basically extortion. Like some evil supervillain holding an antidote and making demands for its use.[/QUOTE] Health care has always been heavily involved with capitalism, this shit is only one proof of many that shows how deep the rabbit hole goes in that industry. money makes the world go brown.

[QUOTE=dannass;48758249]Health care has always been heavily involved with capitalism, this shit is only one proof of many that shows how deep the rabbit hole goes in that industry. money makes the world go brown.[/QUOTE] The polio vaccine guy seemed fine with inventing without enriching some white collars. However, right now the people that actually work on the drugs seem to be in a position where they have to work with them.

[QUOTE=Rangergxi;48757614]I think they've made enough to make up for R&D and enrich themselves for the risk they took. Now its just selfishness.[/QUOTE] It's not as if this company just developed this one drug and called it a day. They're still doing R&D right now using the profits that they are making.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;48758292]It's not as if this company just developed this one drug and called it a day. They're still doing R&D right now using the profits that they are making.[/QUOTE] i wouldn't be so sure that they're exactly maximising use of those profits in R&D. chances are that they're just lining their pockets and putting a fraction in to continued R&D (and they are.) i don't see any reason to defend big pharma anymore. it's a mess of an industry and it's killing people

Also, should the costs of R&D be pushed heavily onto the consumer? I don't think so.

[QUOTE=Feuver;48757927]Seriously, I think the fuck up with that retard who raised the price of the AIDS drug to 750$ a tab is going to raise massive awareness on pharmaceutical companies with over-expensive drugs, so I guess we can give him credit for that.[/QUOTE] It wasn't an AIDS drug, it was an anti-protozoal primarily used for Malaria, it only had side uses in patients with AIDS having specific infections.

[QUOTE=glitchvid;48758374]It wasn't an AIDS drug, it was an anti-protozoal primarily used for Malaria, it only had side uses in patients with AIDS having specific infections.[/QUOTE] I misheard this as [I]the[/I] treatment for AIDS as well, but quickly learned about it's real uses from Google: [quote][B]Pyrimethamine (Daraprim)[/B] Helps prevent malaria and treats toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by a parasite. Is also used to prevent other kinds of infections. May treat: Falciparum malaria, AIDS Associated Opportunistic Infection[/quote] That cites [url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0011901/]this page from PubMed Health[/url].

[QUOTE=.Lain;48758327]i wouldn't be so sure that they're exactly maximising use of those profits in R&D. chances are that they're just lining their pockets and putting a fraction in to continued R&D (and they are.) i don't see any reason to defend big pharma anymore. it's a mess of an industry and it's killing people[/QUOTE] What's the alternative? Drug discovery is expensive. Universities and public institutions can only do so much with the funding that they are given. If you want public institutions to start running drug discovery schemes, then governments need to be willing to give out enormous sums in research grants annually: global R&D spending in the pharmaceutical industry was US$142B in 2014. That's almost 8 times of NASA's 2014 budget. Also, Alexion had a revenue of US$2.23B in 2014, of which it spent US$514M on R&D, which is about 23%. I wouldn't exactly call that a fraction.

I can't imagine someone sitting in a chair and saying "Nope, you're not allowed to lower the price of a drug that saves people's lives." Its monstrosity on a whole different level. Its not that they're criminals or have this lack of empathy or are angry at the world or deranged, its just fucking greed.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;48758509]What's the alternative? Drug discovery is expensive. Universities and public institutions can only do so much with the funding that they are given. If you want public institutions to start running drug discovery schemes, then governments need to be willing to give out enormous sums in research grants annually: global R&D spending in the pharmaceutical industry was US$142B in 2014. That's almost 8 times of NASA's 2014 budget.[/quote] Invalidate the patent of any drug that costs $15.01 or more per dose. Done. That's still a lot of money but it's not unreasonably expensive, and if the company wants to charge more they do so knowing that their drug is going to be available as a generic. They get a choice. Exclusivity at 15 bucks a dose, or they can charge as much as they want and live with Generics that sell for two or three a dose. [quote]Also, Alexion had a revenue of US$2.23B in 2014, of which it spent US$514M on R&D, which is about 23%. I wouldn't exactly call that a fraction.[/QUOTE] That's only a fourth of their total income. That is a fraction of it. Reverse the situation and maybe I could sympathize with Alexion, but as it is, three fourths of their income go to things that aren't new drugs. So fuck 'em.

[QUOTE=TestECull;48759110]Invalidate the patent of any drug that costs $15.01 or more per dose. Done. That's still a lot of money but it's not unreasonably expensive, and if the company wants to charge more they do so knowing that their drug is going to be available as a generic. They get a choice. Exclusivity at 15 bucks a dose, or they can charge as much as they want and live with Generics that sell for two or three a dose.[/quote] Congrats, every pharmaceutical company in existence today is now bankrupt and no new drugs will ever be created. I hope you're happy. Also, where do you think generics came from? Do you think that drugs are born as either a patented drug or as a generic drug? No, all drugs started their life as a patented drug whose patent expired some years down the road, opening up the market to generic versions. Without patented drugs, generics wouldn't even exist. [QUOTE=TestECull;48759110]That's only a fourth of their total income. That is a fraction of it. Reverse the situation and maybe I could sympathize with Alexion, but as it is, three fourths of their income go to things that aren't new drugs. So fuck 'em.[/QUOTE] What kind of asinine logic is this? Every dollar a company spends is supposed to help it survive or grow. You realise that I'm talking about revenue, not income, right? For comparison, here are some R&D expenditure figures for different companies from various industries, as a percentage of revenue: Apple: 3.3% Samsung: 6.4% Volkswagen: 5.2% Toyota: 3.5% Intel: 20.1% Microsoft: 13.4% Google: 13.2% Roche: 19% Merck: 17% As you can see, no other type of company short of technology companies like Intel and Microsoft spends as much of their revenue on R&D than pharmaceutical companies.

[QUOTE=Solo Wing;48757617]If the drug doesn't cost absurd amounts to research and develop then it's selling price should reflect that. Pricing life saving drugs like that purely for profit is fucking dispicable.[/QUOTE] theres absolutely no transparency in the pharmaceutical industry, they can say a drug costs 10k to make but they don't have to actually produce numbers, even though they have spreadsheets saying exactly how much a drug costs to make [editline]25th September 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Headhumpy;48758509]What's the alternative? Drug discovery is expensive. Universities and public institutions can only do so much with the funding that they are given. If you want public institutions to start running drug discovery schemes, then governments need to be willing to give out enormous sums in research grants annually: global R&D spending in the pharmaceutical industry was US$142B in 2014. That's almost 8 times of NASA's 2014 budget. Also, Alexion had a revenue of US$2.23B in 2014, of which it spent US$514M on R&D, which is about 23%. I wouldn't exactly call that a fraction.[/QUOTE] most drug trials are funded by [I]public and not-for-profits[/I] its usually the last stage trials where pharma pays out

[QUOTE=Sableye;48760077]theres absolutely no transparency in the pharmaceutical industry, they can say a drug costs 10k to make but they don't have to actually produce numbers, even though they have spreadsheets saying exactly how much a drug costs to make [editline]25th September 2015[/editline] most drug trials are funded by [I]public and not-for-profits[/I] its usually the last stage trials where pharma pays out[/QUOTE] No, most clinical trials are funded by industry, 75-90% depending on which source you pick. Clinical trials also aren't the only expense for drug R&D, and without the early-stage R&D work, there wouldn't be any drug to trial in the first place. In any case, I fail to see your point because the industry still spent US$142B on R&D, and that number isn't going to change.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;48759243]For comparison, here are some R&D expenditure figures for different companies from various industries, as a percentage of revenue: Apple: 3.3% Samsung: 6.4% Volkswagen: 5.2% Toyota: 3.5% Intel: 20.1% Microsoft: 13.4% Google: 13.2% Roche: 19% Merck: 17% As you can see, no other type of company short of technology companies like Intel and Microsoft spends as much of their revenue on R&D than pharmaceutical companies.[/QUOTE] Yeah, none of them spend as much as pharmaceutical companies in R&D, but in all fairness, all of the industries you listed are luxuries and not necessities. You buy those products optionally and sometimes you don't even buy them at all. Can't say quite the same with medicine.

I hope that TTIP doesn't allow Europe to suffer under US corporate power as well. I'm all for free trade but stories like this (and the fact that the meetings are so secretive, while allowing corporate insiders access) make me suspicious.

[QUOTE=Satansick;48764871]I hope that TTIP doesn't allow Europe to suffer under US corporate power as well. I'm all for free trade but stories like this (and the fact that the meetings are so secretive, while allowing corporate insiders access) make me suspicious.[/QUOTE] It's funny how 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' only applies to average people and not the super-rich.