$480,000-a-Year Cancer Pills Signal Affordable Cancer Cures In the Future
The democratization of cancer cures is at our proverbial doorstep. See the $480,000-a-year cancer pills referenced in the title of this opinion piece.
They read as nosebleed expensive until it’s remembered that time is the most precious commodity of all, and Revolution Medicines’ daraxonrasib pill is elongating the lives of those with pancreatic cancer. Factor in the broader truth that there’s more wealth than ever chasing these increasingly effective pharmaceutical cures, and a highly optimistic present and future emerges. For all.
That’s because it’s not just daraxonrasib that is elongating precious life. As a recent New York Times report indicated, there are a growing number of enormously expensive cancer drugs. Yes, this is truly exciting.
As Times reporter Rebecca Robbins put it, “One cutting-edge CAR-T therapy now goes for $600,000 for a one-time infusion. A competitor, given the same way, is listed at $550,000. A daily pill for gastrointestinal cancer has a sticker price of $520,000 a year. A twice-daily pill for leukemia? It’s $430,000 a year.”
Only for the news to get better. Robbins indicated “In 2024 alone, nine cancer drugs were approved and then introduced with sticker prices above $400,000 annually.”
Please stop and think about this. While the headline costs for these drugs are very high, let’s not forget that there was a time when there were no $480,000 cancer drugs. Said another way, there was a time when no one, no matter how well-to-do-, had options when it came to fighting some of the biggest killers.
Now there are. To which some might ask not unreasonably why it’s optimistic that there are such expensive cancer deterrents and cures. After all, it’s no insight to point out that an overwhelming majority of the world’s inhabitants could never afford these prices. Which is true, but the response ignores a few things.
For one, the richest of the rich are essentially offering to be the proverbial guinea pigs for the rest of us as they take treatment seemingly unavailable to the rest of us. Their intrepid usage of previously unavailable drugs will teach us - along with doctors and pharmaceutical companies - how to utilize what’s potentially transformative.
Second, it’s easily forgotten that what the rich enjoy is invariably a preview of what we’ll all enjoy if markets remain free. Pharmaceutical drugs aren’t the exception to the truth that high prices beget low prices.
Next, while U.S. patents on drugs last 20 years, the clock starts ticking when the patent application is filed. Factoring in the lengthy process of developing a drug, testing it, and having it approved before it reaches the market, it can then be said that generic versions of daraxonrasib and other remarkable advances aren’t as far off as imagined.
To which some will say seven, twelve, or thirteen years is too long for the rest of us to wait. This ignores how much the pharmaceutical companies will learn in those years, thus greatly enhancing the quality of the drugs ultimately available to us.
Lastly, it’s useful to point out that the headline prices mentioned for cancer drugs won’t necessarily be what’s charged individuals, insurers, or governments more broadly. As Robbins reports, Revolution Medicines “set up an expanded access program that, over the past few months, granted more than 2,000 patients free, early access to the drug.” Lest we forget, pharmaceutical companies require broad usage to better understand and improve what they’re bringing to market.
Which brings us back to $480,000-a-year cancer pills. They formerly didn’t exist. Which was the problem. The future is bright.
Originally published on Real Clear Markets.