Posted by Michael Wonder on 04 Feb 2019
This once free drug for a rare condition now costs $375,000
4 February 2019 - Firdapse, a drug used for treatment of a rare neurological disorder that affects one in 100,000 people, used to be free. As of December, its annual cost became $375,000 and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is asking why.
Sanders sent a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals asking the company to justify its action. “Catalyst’s decision to set the annual list price at $375,000 is not only a blatant fleecing of American taxpayers, but is also an immoral exploitation of patients who need this medication,” wrote Sanders, an Independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats.
An equivalent of Firdapse was available free for 20 years from a small drug company, Jacobus Pharmaceutical, under an FDA program for access to experimental drugs, BioWorld reported. Jacobus had never gone through the entire FDA approval process to make the drug commercially available.
