Herceptin Pricing In India Is A Joke: Menon Explains

Last week, the Indian government moved closer to issuing compulsory licenses on three widely used cancer medications – including Roche’s Herceptin – in hopes of making these treatments more affordable to a wider swath of its population (back story). The effort comes a year after India issued its first compulsory license for a brand-name drug, Bayer’s Nexavar cancer treatment, a move that has multinational drugmakers concerned. The cost per dose for Herceptin is roughly $1,400 per month, although Roche maintains it has taken steps to widen access, such as lowering the price previously and arranging for local manufacturing. But Kalyani Menon-Sen, a feminist activist and researcher based in Delhi, who also coordinates the Campaign for Affordable Trastuzumab (the chemical name for Herceptin), says this is not enough… Pharmalot: Why is the move by the government to issue a license for Herceptin such a big deal? Menon: In India, breast cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer among urban women, and the second most prevalent for rural women. Data from the National Cancer Registry, which are likely to be underestimations, record 100,000 new cases a year, of which around 25 percent are the aggressive HER+ form. Younger women seem to be more vulnerable to HER2+ breast cancer – a very worrying trend. Predatory pricing by Roche is keeping Herceptin away from all but the most privileged women. It is shocking that women are dying when there is a medic...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Bayer Compulsory License Compusory Licensing Herceptin Nexavar Roche Source Type: blogs