FREEEDUM

The authors [of a study] found that of the 60 drugs they studied – representing one-fifth of all drugs approved in their study time period of 2009 to 2018 – there was no association between estimated research costs and the drugs’ listed price.

“Drug companies charge what the market will bear,” the researchers said. This is influenced by demand for the drug, whether patients need to continuously take it, and existing market competition.

When [the Chinese cancer drug] Toripalimab was approved, there was speculation the drug could be priced at a significant discount compared with its main competitor on the US market. This stemmed from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly promising that the Chinese PD-1 inhibitor they were seeking FDA approval for would come at a 40 per cent discount if approved.

But during an investor call after Toripalimab received approval, Dennis Lanfear, the chief executive of Coherus, said such a “heavily” reduced price was off the table, according to FiercePharma.

Keytruda, New Jersey-based Merck & Co’s main counterpart to Toripalimab, is also sold in China and its list price on entering the market was half its price in the US, according to FiercePharma.