04.24.15 – OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
PORTLAND, Ore. – A new study released today found that drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis have soared in price in the past two decades, in some cases more than 700 percent, even though newer drugs have come to the market – a process that normally should have stabilized or reduced the cost of at least the older medications.
There are no multiple sclerosis drugs now available in the United States with a list price below $50,000 a year, which is two to three times more than the price in Canada, Australia or the United Kingdom. The group of drugs available to treat this disease is rising in price at five to seven times the normal rate of drug inflation in the U.S.
The findings of this research also point to a systemic problem in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry, with relevance to more than just drugs for multiple sclerosis, according to the authors of the study, which was supported by the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy.
Enormous, uncontrolled and rapidly increasing prices for some types of drugs, they say, may be linked to non-transparent drug pricing policies, a dysfunctional market and the lack of a national healthcare system to negotiate prices more aggressively and directly with pharmaceutical companies.
The end result, they say in the report, may be another industry “too big to fail.”
This research was published today in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, by scientists at the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University College of Pharmacy, the Oregon Health & Science University, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland, Ore.
“The issue of astronomical drug costs, especially for newer drugs or rare conditions, is more and more common,” said Daniel Hartung, lead author of the study and an associate professor in the Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University College of Pharmacy.
“There are often several drugs in a class available to treat a disease or condition, and ‘economics 101’ would suggest that competition should lower prices,” Hartung said. “In the pharmaceutical industry we often don’t see that. Many professionals now believe that it’s time to push back, to say enough is enough.”
Escalating costs for specialty pharmaceuticals, for conditions such as multiple sclerosis, cancer, and hepatitis C, have been a growing concern among many in the health care industry, the authors wrote in their study, raising questions about the ethics of our current approach, exorbitant pricing and increased burdens on “our already stressed healthcare system.”
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