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Pharamcylic Patient Assistance Program

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Submitted By joshuafu
Words 1160
Pages 5
Pharmacyclic’s drug, Imbruvica, is utilized to treat mantle cell lymphoma, which is a rare cancer of the blood that affects only 2,900-4,000 new patients yearly (Staton, 2013). This drug is considered an orphan drug due to the fact that it afflicts so few people each year. The result of the rarity of this disease is that the pharmaceutical company that the developed this drug have to raise prices to extreme levels to cover the immense costs that come along with developing, testing and marketing the drug, while still turning a massive profit for investors. In order to treat prolong or save their lives, the drug will cost roughly $130,000 each year (Staton, 2013). One would think that this price would decrease the demand, but that is not the case for high priced drugs in today’s market. Yervoy, a drug that treats melanoma, was introduced with a $120,000 price and sales skyrocketed upon release (Staton, 2013). This is a crippling number for anyone who is suffering from the disease, but Pharmacyclic has formulated a program that not only benefits themselves, but also the consumer. Every corporation and business has primary goal of maximizing profits for their company and for a pharmaceutical company this is especially important. The company that has founded this cancer treating drug has a patent, which is a right granted by the government making them the exclusive seller of the drug for a limited period of time, that runs through 2026 (Guell, 2014; Generic Imbruvica Availability, 2013). This gives them over 10 years of exclusivity allowing them to remain a monopoly for that period of time. FierceBiotech reported that in collaboration with Johnson and Johnson, Pharmacyclic has created $975 million in capital to fund the development, testing and marketing of this drug (2014). This is a profound amount of money, but the strict FDA regulations and lengthy approval process

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