Genentech. I have heard of the pharmaceutical company. I've even heard of the drug Avastin, used to treat colon cancer, and recently found to be possibly effective against other cancers.
Genentech. They are the worst of the worst. They want to block a drug that may help cure blindness caused by macular degeneration! Why? Look below and find out how bad a drug company can be and how the quest for ever-larger profits can evaporate any and all ethical principles humans can have.
See what the number 100 has to do with it.
Gorette's diary:
I admit to having a very bad attitude about drug companies in general for many reasons, quite justified in the minds of many reasonable and enlightened individuals. But I have never, never been as angry at a drug company as I am today. I was already told that I am on my way to developing cataracts and they can be fixed, but who knows? The thought of blindness always terrified me.
Blindness caused by macular degeneration. Lots of people get this eye disease and their sight becomes drastically impaired. You'll remember that just this week our president made an issue of a reporter's keeping on his sunglasses while asking a question of the president. The man who is legally blind has this disease as do 20,000 in the UK alone each year.
According to the Guardian, of the UK, Genentech greedily intends to stop the use of Avastin for the purpose of stopping blindness. Instead, they will not test it for that purpose.
They want to push their own partial Avastin formulation that will cost people 100 times more!!
Lucentis, the replacement drug, will cost about $1,850 per shot.
Can you believe it? Finally a drug is found that can prevent the growth of abnormal blood vessels and stop people from going blind from macular degeneration! It will be great for those who have health plans that can pay for it.
The Guardian reports, http://www.guardian.co.uk/...
in "Drugs firm blocks cheap blindness cure: Company will only seek licence for medicine that costs 100 times more." Their health editor, Sarah Boseley, reports today, that Genentech's Avastin could probably "cheaply and effectively saving thousands of people from going blind because it wants to launch a more expensive product on the market."
Ophthalmologists around the world, on their own initiative, are injecting tiny quantities of a colon cancer drug called Avastin into the eyes of patients with wet macular degeneration, a common condition of older age that can lead to severely impaired eyesight and blindness. They report remarkable success at very low cost because one phial can be split and used for dozens of patients.
But Genentech, the company that invented Avastin, does not want it used in this way. Instead it is applying to license a fragment of Avastin, called Lucentis, which is packaged in the tiny quantities suitable for eyes at a higher cost. Speculation in the US suggests it could cost £1,000 per dose instead of less than £10. The company says Lucentis is specifically designed for eyes, with modifications over Avastin, and has been through 10 years of testing to prove it is safe.
Unless Avastin is approved in the UK by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) it will not be universally available within the NHS. But because Genentech declines to apply for a licence for this use of Avastin, Nice cannot consider it. In spite of the growing drugs bill of the NHS, it will appraise, and probably approve, Lucentis next year.
Can you imagine what the people at Genentech are saying as they sit in their board rooms? Do you think there might be one individual who had the courage to say: "I hate to rain on your parade gentlemen, but maybe we should rethink this. Maybe we should not charge that much more. Maybe just double. After people will be going blind because they can't afford the new version."
According to CBS news, http://wfrv.com/...
"Macular Degeneration Is The Leading Cause Of Blindness In People Over 60... Affecting More Than One And A Half Million Americans." In Most Cases.. It's Irreversable. Dr. Robert Cykiert,NYU Medical Center, said: “Usually Within Two To Three Weeks Patients Will Notice An Improvement In Their Vision Because The Abnormal Blood Vessels Stop Leaking Fluid. We've Never Had A Drug Before That Actually Improves The Vision So This Is A Major, Major Breakthrough."
The Guardian report states:
"This unlicensed use of Avastin has spread across continents entirely by word of mouth from one doctor to another. It has now been injected into 7,000 eyes, with considerable success. Professor Rosenfeld has published his results and a website has been launched in the US to collate the experiences of doctors from around the world. But although the evidence is good, regulators require randomised controlled trials before they grant licences, which generally only the drug companies can afford to carry out."
Rosenfeld believes this "truly is a wonder drug" and that the only reason Genentech is doing this is for the profits.
Could our government insist on and pay for, he wonders, clinical trials of Avastin and other drugs, "in the public interest."
Well, I for one have been saying it often, that ours is a country of, by and for the corporations. I submit that a country of, by and for the people could and would pay for such research on this and other drugs as needed.
People who may be going blind are meantime waiting to see what if anything will be done.
It is reported elsewhere,
http://www.kansascity.com/... that treatment for the disease is "on fast track for FDA approval." They are not talking Avastin, they are talking about Lucentis.
This disease is the "leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years old and older, according to the National Eye Institute. It affects more than 1.75 million people in the United States, and that number is expected to increase to almost 3 million by 2020, according to the Archives of Ophthalmology. snip... If approved, Lucentis "could become a financial boon to the company." Three doses might cost $6,000. "Clinical trial results have been so strong that Wall Street analysts predict Lucentis will capture a major share of the market, generating first-year sales between $200 million and $300 million."
Once approved, on June 30, Genetech plans to ship within 72 hours. Imagine thousands of people around the world people waiting for it and how many of them who cannot pay for the 100 times higher drug! What an outrage.