Big Pharma tries to halt advance of cheaper drug
If you were ever under any illusion that Big Pharma cares about you – as opposed to its profits – allow me to clear that up for you right now. Case in point: Genentech now has the rights to two drugs – one cheap, one expensive – to cure the same illness. And guess which one they've decided to promote?
Genentech has decided to continue promoting Lucentis, its macular degeneration drug that comes with a price tag of about $2,000 a treatment. However, docs have found that another Genentech drug -- Avastin, prescribed mostly for treating colon cancer – may be just as effective. And it costs just $60 per injection. It turns out, the same things the drug does to prevent tumor growth also keep the eye's blood vessels from growing, which leads to macular degeneration.
Genentech has decried this as an off-label use, but I've told you before about how drug companies regularly promote off-label uses for their products. At any rate, you'd think the issue would at least warrant additional research, right?
Not on Genentech's dime.
The National Eye Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health) is organizing a study comparing the drugs, and Genentech has refused to contribute money. Of course, if it were Genentech's drug up against some other company's drug, you can be darn sure they'd be ponying up some funds. That's the way the game is normally played.
But it's important to remember that this is not a game. It is people's health. There's a chance that people with macular degeneration can be treated at a fraction of the cost of what they're currently spending. Especially for folks without insurance, this development could change lives.
But not on Genentech's dime. If such a breakthrough is coming, my guess is they don’t want to know about it. And they probably don’t want you to know about it either.
