Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Spain, specifically, and Europe, in general, have had to witness how the pharmaceutical market increased its prices for most medicines. A fact that has caused a high cost on the public coffers, which has led the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) to reveal some of the .
In an attempt to lower the price of some medicines, the OCU joining ‘It’s not healthy’ in which they harshly criticize the increases that health costs have suffered since the start of the pandemic. With a 53% increase in spending on hospitals, those treating the most serious illnesses have suffered the most as their value is set by what a country is willing to pay for them.
For this reason, these institutions request that the price be marked by its costs, as is the case with other everyday products, and in this way the budget that the National Health System has to invest is reduced.
These are the drugs that cost the most for Spanish Health
Anecdotal is the case of drugs such as Duxipent, intended for atopic dermatitis in adults, or Luxturna, for vision loss. These represent an expense per patient of more than 15,000 and almost 700,000 euros, which translates into a state investment of millions of euros as there is a large number of patients who receive it, especially the first. In addition, the OCU also points out to Spinraza that given its conditions it has raised its price to an expense of more than one and a half million for a five-year treatment per patient.
The treatment for spinal muscular atrophy represents around 35 million euros of investment per year
However, more serious is the case of Zolgensma, dedicated to treating spinal muscular atrophy, which involves a price of two million euros per patient. Approved this same 2021, it is marketed by Novartis and given its reach among applicants, it represents an investment for public coffers of about 35 million euros per year.
Libmeldy, the most expensive drug in the world
But this is not the most expensive drug in the world, but the one found in Spain, a title that corresponds to , marketed by Orchard Therapeutics. Used for patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy, a rare hereditary disease, it is authorized by the European Medicines Agency and is already being approved by several countries with a price ranging between 2.5 and 3 million euros.
Considered an orphan drug, due to the strangeness of the disease, it should only be administered in specialized transplant centers and has severe side effects that occur in 10% of patients. However, its benefit is greater as it is proven that it improves the infant system and helps combat this metachromatic leukodystrophy.
The OCU demands more transparency in the price
But going back to the price, with this study the OCU and No es Sano have wanted to denounce these high costs that are induced by a growth in the idea that a drug should cost what a Government is willing to pay for it. Without taking into account the traditional market system, by which a price is imposed for the audited costs involved in its preparation plus a profit margin, both institutions demand that it be transparent in order not to damage public coffers.
In addition, they ask the Ministry of Health to publish the expenditure per drug, in order to give greater visibility to what these high amounts mean for the National Health System. In the same way, they consider that if these values are reduced, there would be greater accessibility to drugs with the benefit that it would entail for patients.
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