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Annals of Oncology 13:1327-1328, 2002
© 2002 European Society for Medical Oncology

News

When rules about ‘orphan drugs’ go wrong, costs rise

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

According to a report in the UK newspaper The Guardian, 24 June 2002, the prices of life-saving treatments for some rare children’s diseases are being increased by pharmaceutical companies to levels where UK hospitals can barely afford them.

EU regulations concerning ‘orphan drugs’—drugs which are of benefit to fewer than five per 10 000 people—have been put in place in order to encourage the invention of new medicines. But ...

A chemical manufacturer was reported as being no longer able to provide a hospital with carbamyl glutamate because a pharmaceutical company is in the process of securing a licence and sole marketing rights to the compound under the orphan drug regulation. According to The Guardian, the pharmaceutical company based in Paris, but with a branch in the UK, has increased the price of carbamyl glutamate from around £700–£1500 a year to £80 000–£106 000 (depending on dosage) and will soon have . . . [Full Text of this Article]

If this was fiction, no one would believe it

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