(More on Colombia here: /colombia)
On May 16, 2016, 122 health, trade, and intellectual property experts defended the Colombian government’s right to issue a compulsory license on imatinib, an expensive leukemia drug that is being sold at a high price by the Swiss drug company Novartis, in a letter to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Astellas has claimed that patients taking Xtandi face very small co-payments. One patient living in Arizona contacted KEI with proof that Astellas’ claims just aren’t true. The patient, who is on Medicare, provided a copy of a summary of his expenses for the first quarter of of 2016.
His monthly patient co-payment is $441.97 a month.
Other KEI comments on NIH licenses are found here: /nih-licenses
In response to a February request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for documents related to the grant of an exclusive patent license on a HER2+ breast cancer treatment technology, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) withheld in full all responsive records.
On April 26, 2016, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) delivered the keynote address at a panel discussion on drug pricing at the Center for American Progress, where he addressed the Federal government’s role in subsidizing drug development, ensuring affordable access at reasonable prices for U.S. citizens, industry practices related to monopoly pricing, and legislative solutions to promote rational and affordable drug prices.
On April 22, 2016, the President of Biolyse Pharma — a Canadian pharmaceutical company that specializes in the manufacture of oncology drugs — offered to supply the prostate cancer drug enzalutamide (Xtandi) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for $3 per pill ($12 per day; $4,383 per year). The Biolyse price for enzalutamide is 4-percent of the 2014 Medicare price, $69.41 ($277.64 per day; $101,408.01 per year), and lower than any other price in the world.
CONTACT:
Zack Struver
zack.struver@keionline.org
+1 (914) 582-1428
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 21, 2016
Non-Profit Groups Urge Obama Administration, NIH to Lower Price of Government-Funded, $129,000 Per Year Prostate Cancer Drug
The groups asked the National Institutes of Health to “take this opportunity to act” to lower the price of the prostate cancer drug Xtandi and show leadership on deterring discriminatory pricing practices.
On Monday, March 7, 2016, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, issued a statement in support of the recent Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment (UACT) request that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) authorize the generic production of an expensive prostate cancer drug in order to curb an excessive and discriminatory price in the United States.
Submission of Knowledge Ecology International
U.S. Copyright Office Docket No. 2015-6
This is the submission of Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) in response to the U.S. Copyright Office request for public comment on “software-enabled consumer products” (U.S. Copyright Office Docket No. 2015-6).
Introduction
Knowledge Ecology International is a non-governmental organization with offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, that searches for better outcomes, including new solutions, to the management of knowledge resources.
This submission covers these topics:
On February 8, 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) responded to Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and the Union for Affordable Cancer Treatment’s (UACT) letter requesting that the federal government exercise its authority under the Bayh-Dole Act to break patents on an expensive prostate cancer drug.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan addressed civil society and policy-oriented “think tanks” on November 12, 2015, and “challenge[d]” them to “help with issues that keep me awake at night.” Specifically, she mentioned the problems with pharmaceutical patents, high drug prices as a barrier to access, and the current system of incentives for new drug innovation. Dr. Chan also raised concerns about the the TPP, which she said may raise drug prices and harm access to generics.