Friday, December 19, 2008

Companies Play Catch-Up on Colon Cancer Drug Supply

Teva says its customer demand rose, while Bedford says an expansion of its manufacturing facilities has caused delays.
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1 comment:

Greg Pawelski said...

Leucovorin is a faster acting and more potent form of folic acid, used as a rescue after dose-intense 5FU therapy to lessen and counteract the effect of 5FU toxicity and other folic acid antagonists. Patients are given resuce drugs for any incident in which the use of a medication may have harmed the patient. Cancer sufferers are taking doses of potentially toxic treatments that are possibly well in excess of what they need. Many cancer drugs may be just as effective and produce fewer side effects if taken over shorter periods and in lower doses.

Government auditors found some years ago that the price of Leucovorin calcium listed for $18.44. Medicare paid 95%, or $17.52, but some physicians bought it for $2.77. Marketing the Spread occurs when a drug maker uses the differences between the price paid for a drug by public health care programs and the actual cost of the drug charged to doctors as a tool for selling products. The GAO reported that the 86% Spread for Leucovorin meant that a Medicare beneficiary's co-pay alone would actually be more than the physician paid for the drug.

Xeloda (capecitabine) offers fewer side-effects and 85% less time with the doctor or at the hospital. Again, would a clinical trial to show when drugs are selected with and without the presence of profit differential, clinical outcomes would be the same? Most oncologists use injectable treatment because they are more profitable than oral therapies, and remains an important source of income for their practices. Is this better for the patient?

Xeloda is proving much more convenient, has fewer side effects, and has shown it is giving colon cancer patients a better chance of surviving the disease. Yes, Xeloda is more expensive than Leucovorin, but Leucovorin can more renumerative for the oncologist.

January 5, 2009 at 5:16 PM

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