5 years ago
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The million-dollar drug
UBC scientists spent decades developing Glybera, the world’s first approved gene therapy. But market forces needed just two years to make the potentially life-saving drug disappear.
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"The problem is, with people like me and Michael Hayden, we never have any say about pricing," he said. "By the time there's a pricing, we're gone already. We've done the science and the clinical work and everything, and then it's the commercial and financial people that determine the price."
The decision to price Glybera at $1 million was based on a business calculation, according to van Deventer.
To set a price, they compared Glybera to other drugs that treat rare diseases.
Because Glybera is a one-time treatment that can last at least 10 years (according to patient data collected so far), the $1-million price seemed reasonable, van Deventer said.