AMSTERDAM: In a radiation-proof room at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Emar Thomasa sits behind shielded glass as he carefully measures and mixes lutetium octreotate, an intravenous treatment for certain types of cancer.
"People with rare diseases are dependent on medicines that are so expensive that they can't afford them, when they could be offered for a much lower price," said UMC pharmacist Marleen Kemper."The pharmaceutical industry plays an important role in developing good products, but we think it's not fair if these firms make big money off these patients."
The drug industry, including Swiss giant Novartis and Italian-based Leadiant, argue Dutch national supervision of pharmacy preparations is not comparable to the European standards that apply to pharmaceutical companies. In Canada, industry lobbying groups have offered concessions as they seek to avert a government crackdown. And in Japan, regulators are considering a cost-effectiveness test as a means of capping prices.
However, in the United States, for-profit compounding pharmacies have tested the limits of what they are allowed to do in recent years, including mixing medicines in large quantities. In some cases, that has prompted legal conflicts with drugmakers. "If can play a role in providing medicines at an affordable price, fine, but when they become a barrier, then there's a problem," she said.
High prices are not unusual for new rare disease drugs, as companies must recoup development costs from a relatively small group of patients. The drug had just been approved by the EMA as a treatment for certain cases of endocrine cancers, which affect one in 27,000 people. Although Lutathera is not a cure, it often gives patients several extra years of healthy life.