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New York - This could be the most exciting time in cancer-research history as previously deadly diseases may be survivable for some patients. But there’s a cost.
WATCH: Cancer drugs are headed for price cuts
Cancer to become the centre of the next big drug-pricing fights
The first approved combination of immune-oncology drugs - immunity-boosting medicines that can produce spectacular results - is priced at an incredible $256 000 a year in the US.
Discounts and rebates usually cut the actual prices people pay for such drugs. But cancer drugs often aren’t discounted as much as other medicines.
Even with discounts, the US pays far more for cancer drugs than other countries. A wave of new medicines will likely make the price divide between the US and the rest of the world even worse, and may make cancer the centre of the next big drug-pricing fights.
Bloomberg's Tori Stilwell, Dan Moss and Aki Ito report that drug companies and researchers have made huge advances in recent years to treat cancer, possibly the world's leading cause of death. And more breakthroughs are likely. But it will come with a big price tag, and getting all the way to a cure will be tricky.
What does it all have to do with the global economy?
In the below Bloomberg podcast, Dr Louis Weiner, director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Washington, explains it all to Dan Moss and guest host Scott Lanman, who has a deep personal connection to the topic at hand.
PODCAST: Cure Cancer, Boost Global Growth
Note from Fin24 editor: In the above video, South Africa's pricing is clearly a lot better than the US. While the median monthly list price for patented cancer drugs in 2016 were $8 600 per month, South Africa's was below $2 000 (R29 000). How the price wars in the US will impact South Africa's pricing structure was not addressed.
- The views of Bloomberg's Max Nisen do not necessarily reflect those of Bloomberg or Fin24.
