Trump and his administration need to do something about this.
Drug was free, because it was experimental.
They got FDA approval in Nov and then in Dec raised the price to 375k
A price only a millionaire or billionaire could afford.
FUCKING PHARMA SCUMBAGS
Also doing good things for people, things that some dems want that are rational, logical,and make sense, will help Trump destroy their narrative, and take something off the list that Bernie or others are going to campaign on.
Trump administration has already worked hard on lowering drug prices.
Maybe they can do something in this situation.
'It's immoral exploitation': Bernie Sanders rips into pharmaceutical company that now charges $375k for a drug that was FREE for years
Senator Sanders wrote a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals on February 4
He asks the company to explain the factors that led it to set the price of Firdapse
The drug is used to treat a rare neuromusclar disorder affecting one in 100,000
For years, patients could get the drug for free from Jacobus Pharmaceuticals
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has written to a pharmaceutical company asking for a justification on its decision to charge $375,000 annually for a drug that for years has been available to patients for free.
Sanders sent the letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals on Monday, in which he asked it to explain both the financial and non-financial factors the company considered when it set the list price for Firdapse in December.
The drug is used to treat Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS), a rare neuromuscular disorder, according to the letter dated February 4.
The disorder affects about one in 100,000 people in the United State
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,' Sanders wrote in his letter.
He doubled-down his message yesterday on Twitter, writing: 'Catalyst Pharmaceuticals raised the price of a life-saving drug from $0 to $375,000. Now patients are worried they are going to suffer or even die because of the greed of a drug company.
If Catalyst does not substantially lower the price of this medication, Congress must act.'
The government is intensifying its scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry and rising prescription drug prices, a top voter concern and a priority of President Donald Trump's administration.
Both the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, controlled by Republicans, have begun holding hearings this year on the rising costs of medicines. Sanders is an independent who usually votes with Democrats.
Sanders also asked for the number of patients who would suffer or die as a result of the price, as well as information on how much Catalyst was paying to purchase or produce the drug.
Catalyst declined to comment on Sanders' letter but its shares fell nearly 8 percent to $2.31.
For years, patients have been able to get the same drug for free from Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small New Jersey-based drug company, which offered it through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) program called 'compassionate use.'
The program allows patients with rare diseases and conditions access to experimental drugs outside of a clinical trial when there is no viable alternative.
Florida-based Catalyst received FDA approval of Firdapse in November, along with exclusive rights to market the medication until 2025.
The company, which bought rights to the drug from a company called BioMarin in 2012, develops and commercializes drugs for rare diseases.
BioMarin and FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sanders joins other U.S. lawmakers in investigating the pricing practices of pharmaceutical companies this year.
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in January wrote to 12 pharmaceutical firms asking for detailed information on how they set drug prices.
Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Diana DeGette wrote to the heads of Eli Lilly and Co, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi SA, the long-time leading manufacturers of insulin, requesting information on why the drug's price has skyrocketed in recent years.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6666089/U-S-Senator-Sanders-asks-drug-free-costs-375k.html