723
Something else needs cut, apparently.
This is literally the setup for the show Leverage
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(8 replies)
Why is the drug so expensive? Does it have to do with patent laws, or is the actual manufacturing process ridiculously expensive?
Does it require rare materials?
I commented this elsewhere, but to answer your question,
Zolgemsma is a modified version of adeno associated virus and has to be grown under specific conditions. It costs $500k-$1m per production. It's also a one time injection that functionally cures the person of the disease. There are a couple other options but for comparison, the other therapeutic is Spinraza which is an intermittent intrathecal infusion which is $805,000 for the first year of therapy and $380,000 per year thereafter for the rest of your life.
SMA type I also is 100% fatal by year 2-3 and the baby dies without being able to even lift their head. It's a terrible prognosis.
To be clear, I think we should bear the actual costs of research, development, and manufacture as a society and not profiteer off the sick, but there are some contributory reasons for the price.
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(4 replies)
Sad truth: Nothing about this will change until the boomers are gone.
The cut coverage of the drug for everybody or just the mom? There's no reason for the drug to cost this much. They do this on purpose so less lives are saved.
on purpose
How do you know? Wouldn't more people around mean more money for them?
One person, or the few people that are born with this rare disease, are probably not likely to net them an average of more than a few hundred thousand over their lifetime, even assuming they make it to adulthood
this post was submitted on 05 May 2024
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