Current Events > Pharmaceutical company plotted to destroy cancer drugs to drive up prices 4000%

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/drug-giant-aspen-plot-destroy-cancer-medicine-big-pharma-times-investigation-a7683521.html

Leaked internal emails appear to show employees at one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies calling for “celebration” over price hikes of cancer drugs, an investigation has revealed.

Staff at Aspen Pharmacare reportedly plotted to destroy stocks of life-saving medicines during a price dispute with the Spanish health service in 2014.

After purchasing five different cancer drugs from British firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the company tried to sell the medicines in Europe for up to 40 times their previous price, reported The Times.

In 2013, the price of one pack of a generic chemotherapy drug called busulfan, used to treat leukaemia, rose from £5.20 to £65.22 in England and Wales, according to the newspaper.

The other four drugs, including Leukeran, also used by leukaemia patients, and melphalan (trade name Alkeran), for skin and ovarian cancers, also became up to four times more expensive.

Price rises for generic cancer drugs, such as those acquired by Aspen, cost the NHS in England around £380m a year for prescriptions dispensed outside hospitals, the European Cancer Congress has estimated.

In a confidential email published by The Times, an Aspen employee appeared to write: “We’ve signed new reimbursement and price agreement successfully: price increases are basically on line with European target prices (Leukeran, a bit higher!)... Let’s celebrate!”

When bargaining over drug prices in Spain, the pharmaceutical giant is said to have threatened to stop selling the cancer treatments unless the health minister agreed to price rises of up to 4,000 per cent, reported Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial Digital at the time.

Now another leaked email appears to reveal that staff at Aspen discussed destroying their supplies of the drug in the row.

The company, which is based in South Africa and has its European headquarters in Dublin, bought the five drugs from GSK in 2009 as part of a deal worth £273m.

The price increases were made possible by a loophole that allows drug companies to change the price of medicines if they are no longer branded with the same name.

The Department of Health has said it plans to cut generic drug costs after researchers said there has been a sharp increase in the price of cancer drugs in the last five years, leading to their use being restricted in the NHS.

The loophole is designed to make drugs cheaper once their patents have expired – but if drug companies have no competition, they are free to rise prices as well.

It is “worrying” that several drug companies have increased the price of cancer treatment, a senior pharmacology research fellow at the University of Liverpool, told the BBC.

A ruling by the Italian competition watchdog found Aspen had taken an “aggressive” approach to negotiations in the country.

According to The Times’s investigation, the company said it would stop supplying Italy with the drugs in October 2013 if authorities did not agree to price rises of up to 2,100 per cent in three months.

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I would like to say shocking but it's not at all.
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Like, I know these practices are disgusting and all.... but I'm just running out of things to say because this bologna seems to be becoming more and more common.
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This is my surprised face
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Free market!
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I wonder if it would be cheaper for the countries to pool resources and create a generic drug manufacturer.
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LanHikari10 posted...

Like, I know these practices are disgusting and all.... but I'm just running out of things to say because this bologna seems to be becoming more and more common.

It's been common for a while, but thanks to Martin Shkrelli (sp?) It's becoming a more well known issue.
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CrimsonAngeI posted...

I would like to say shocking but it's not at all.

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This is the kinda shit that allows socialism and gov't control to creep in.

If these fucks just weren't so GD greedy everyone could have a piece and we'd have a nice balance, but no!
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LanHikari10 posted...

Like, I know these practices are disgusting and all.... but I'm just running out of things to say because this bologna seems to be becoming more and more common.

Good man Lan gonna be the person to change Pharma from the inside!


This is seriously disgusting indeed.
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Someone is going to say this is the government's fault somehow.
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I wish I could do something to change this, but I have zero control over insurance and pharmaceutical companies. :/
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LanHikari10 posted...

I wish I could do something to change this, but I have zero control over insurance and pharmaceutical companies. :/

Not with that attitude. Quitter.
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Tell me what I can do Crimson. ;(

I'm just one person against these huge companies.
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Not sure why clowns on CE are blaming the free market or trying to shield the government.

There is no free market here. It's extremely hard for new companies to enter this space. That's why these pharmaceuticals are basically monopolies. They can raise their prices this much because there are few or no alternatives.

Reduce the governmental red tape and bureaucracy so that competition can enter the market and reduce prices.

Monoclonal antibody drugs are going to bankrupt most first-world countries unless we can find a cheaper way to produce them.
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Coffeebeanz posted...

Monoclonal antibody drugs are going to bankrupt most first-world countries unless we can find a cheaper way to produce them.

Easily done. Adopt a single payer system like the majority of Europe has already done.
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DirkDiggles posted...

Coffeebeanz posted...

Monoclonal antibody drugs are going to bankrupt most first-world countries unless we can find a cheaper way to produce them.

Easily done. Adopt a single payer system like the majority of Europe has already done.

That doesn't make them any cheaper to produce.

Gleevec in Canada is like $10k/year, which is about what you'd pay if you had insurance in America.

I'm strongly for single-payer, though. But it won't fix some of the problems with have with pharmaceuticals.
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Clad posted...

Not sure why clowns on CE are blaming the free market or trying to shield the government.

There is no free market here. It's extremely hard for new companies to enter this space. That's why these pharmaceuticals are basically monopolies. They can raise their prices this much because there are few or no alternatives.

Reduce the governmental red tape and bureaucracy so that competition can enter the market and reduce prices.

I too desire a lack of patents.
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lol
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SGT_Conti posted...

Clad posted...

Not sure why clowns on CE are blaming the free market or trying to shield the government.

There is no free market here. It's extremely hard for new companies to enter this space. That's why these pharmaceuticals are basically monopolies. They can raise their prices this much because there are few or no alternatives.

Reduce the governmental red tape and bureaucracy so that competition can enter the market and reduce prices.

I too desire a lack of patents.

In a lot of these cases, like the one in the OP, the patent has expired, but there aren't enough companies making the drug. So the one that makes most of it can just raise prices whenever they feel like it.
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uwnim posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

Clad posted...

Not sure why clowns on CE are blaming the free market or trying to shield the government.

There is no free market here. It's extremely hard for new companies to enter this space. That's why these pharmaceuticals are basically monopolies. They can raise their prices this much because there are few or no alternatives.

Reduce the governmental red tape and bureaucracy so that competition can enter the market and reduce prices.

I too desire a lack of patents.

In a lot of these cases, like the one in the OP, the patent has expired, but there aren't enough companies making the drug. So the one that makes most of it can just raise prices whenever they feel like it.

The government blocks new competition from entering the market. That is why.

Clad posted...

uwnim posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

Clad posted...

Not sure why clowns on CE are blaming the free market or trying to shield the government.

There is no free market here. It's extremely hard for new companies to enter this space. That's why these pharmaceuticals are basically monopolies. They can raise their prices this much because there are few or no alternatives.

Reduce the governmental red tape and bureaucracy so that competition can enter the market and reduce prices.

I too desire a lack of patents.

In a lot of these cases, like the one in the OP, the patent has expired, but there aren't enough companies making the drug. So the one that makes most of it can just raise prices whenever they feel like it.

The government blocks new competition from entering the market. That is why.

But but... free market?!?!?
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Disgusting
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drug manufacturing infrastructure is extremely expensive. the problem isn't "big gubmint keeping the entrepreneur down", it's that the initial investment is huge

treewojima posted...

drug manufacturing infrastructure is extremely expensive. the problem isn't "big gubmint keeping the entrepreneur down", it's that the initial investment is huge

The government inflates those costs

Clad posted...

treewojima posted...

drug manufacturing infrastructure is extremely expensive. the problem isn't "big gubmint keeping the entrepreneur down", it's that the initial investment is huge

The government inflates those costs

Can't wait for Liberland to we filled with pharmaceutical companies so that drugs can be bought cheaply.
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SGT_Conti posted...

Clad posted...

treewojima posted...

drug manufacturing infrastructure is extremely expensive. the problem isn't "big gubmint keeping the entrepreneur down", it's that the initial investment is huge

The government inflates those costs

Can't wait for Liberland to we filled with pharmaceutical companies so that drugs can be bought cheaply.

Cheap and plentiful snake oil for all!
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if only real life were that simple

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.
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SGT_Conti posted...

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.

lol
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SGT_Conti posted...

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.

If only it actually worked that way. =/ People do buy things like homeopathic "medicine" .
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Kinda off topic but I'm bored.

When Atorvastatin (generic for Lipitor) finally hit the market, the makers of Lipitor had the rights to it. Instead of rebranding the pills they just put the same pills in Atorvastatin bottles. The same pill had two vastly different values in the same market based off the label on a bottle and insurance formularies.
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uwnim posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.

If only it actually worked that way. =/ People do buy things like homeopathic "medicine" .

They're still in business so that means they must be doing some sort of healing. That's how the market is supposed to work.
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if the medicine has severe negative side effects they can just not buy it. intelligent consumers research everything, and anyone who doesn't deserves whatever they get

SGT_Conti posted...

uwnim posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.

If only it actually worked that way. =/ People do buy things like homeopathic "medicine" .

They're still in business so that means they must be doing some sort of healing. That's how the market is supposed to work.

Worked for Steve Jobs.
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treewojima posted...

if the medicine has severe negative side effects they can just not buy it. intelligent consumers research everything, and anyone who doesn't deserves whatever they get

People will know next time they need cancer meds or whatever.
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SGT_Conti posted...

uwnim posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.

If only it actually worked that way. =/ People do buy things like homeopathic "medicine" .

They're still in business so that means they must be doing some sort of healing. That's how the market is supposed to work.

That's how the market works with informed consumers. Problem is idiots require you to throw that sort of thinking out. Like liquid homeopathic "medicine" is literally just water.
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treewojima posted...

if the medicine has severe negative side effects they can just not buy it. intelligent consumers research everything, and anyone who doesn't deserves whatever they get

When it comes to health, especially emergency health, I don't think many people at that moment take the time to do that kind of research. Like actual research, not looking at reviews or something.
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SGT_Conti posted...

uwnim posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

If a medicine doesn't work then it won't sell.

If only it actually worked that way. =/ People do buy things like homeopathic "medicine" .

They're still in business so that means they must be doing some sort of healing. That's how the market is supposed to work.

I bet you that it's largely a placebo effect that makes people thinks these treatments are doing anything.
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The people responsible for this sort of thing should literally be imprisoned and tortured with the peak of medical capability for as long as they can possibly be kept alive.
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emblem boy posted...

treewojima posted...

if the medicine has severe negative side effects they can just not buy it. intelligent consumers research everything, and anyone who doesn't deserves whatever they get

When it comes to health, especially emergency health, I don't think many people at that moment take the time to do that kind of research. Like actual research, not looking at reviews or something.

please don't take anything I say seriously

treewojima posted...

if the medicine has severe negative side effects they can just not buy it. intelligent consumers research everything, and anyone who doesn't deserves whatever they get

Everyone trusts their fucking doctor
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SGT_Conti posted...

please don't take anything I say seriously

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treewojima posted...

if the medicine has severe negative side effects they can just not buy it. intelligent consumers research everything, and anyone who doesn't deserves whatever they get

Intelligent people understand the limits of their knowledge or capability to objectively assess their competence.
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SGT_Conti posted...

Clad posted...

Not sure why clowns on CE are blaming the free market or trying to shield the government.

There is no free market here. It's extremely hard for new companies to enter this space. That's why these pharmaceuticals are basically monopolies. They can raise their prices this much because there are few or no alternatives.

Reduce the governmental red tape and bureaucracy so that competition can enter the market and reduce prices.

I too desire a lack of patents.

If patents are gone, no one is going to fund new drug research.
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Kinda weird none of the other companies took this opportunity to move in with a cheaper generic

The secondary point is I wonder how Spain and Italy's governments work in terms of negotiating drug prices. In NZ we have Pharmac which helps prevent issues like this
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DEKMStephens posted...

Kinda weird none of the other companies took this opportunity to move in with a cheaper generic

this confuses me also

generic by definition means that there's no patented drug
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fenderbender321 posted...

Once that IP expires, then the drug becomes very affordable.

The article notes that that is not the case in reality; some drugs become more expensive.
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