“Expensive” does not always mean “effective.”
In fact, some of the most expensive drugs give low positive results. Cheaper to buy a home than some of these drugs. Of course, in the coming months this list is subject to change.
Myosin (Myozyme)
Annual cost: from $100 000 to $300 000
Myosin is a drug used to treat a rare but debilitating disease, glycogen storage disease (Pompe disease). It affects skeletal muscles and heart of the patient.
Aktar (Acthar)
Annual cost: $300 000
Aktar is a drug used to treat seizures in children under the age of two years. Since the Management on sanitary inspection behind quality of foodstuff and medicines (FDA) has not approved aktar, it is not only difficult to obtain, but also insurance companies usually do not cover the cost of its acquisition.
All this leads to the establishment of the high prices and profits from sales in excess of three quarters of a billion dollars a year.
Folotyn (Folotyn)
Annual cost: $320 000
Folotyn used to combat a rare and aggressive form of cancer, T-cell lymphoma. For the patient a six-week course of treatment with Volotinen – last chance to stop the disease. Although the profit from the sale of this drug exceeds $ 50 million annually, the drug showed no significant prolongation of life, making it a very expensive last resort.
Cinryze
Annual cost: $350 000
This drug is used for treatment of angioneurotic edema – hereditary disease, occurring in one out of 50 thousand and causing swelling of hands, throat and abdomen. Produced from human blood, Cinryze proved to be quite effective in fighting this disease.
Negleyzim (Naglazyme)
Annual cost: $365 000
Used to treat children’s illness known as the syndrome Maroto-Lamy, which affects the connective tissue. People suffering from this syndrome, have incorrectly developed muscles, joints and tissues, often leading to dwarfism.
Children with this disease also suffer from neurological and cardiac diseases, disorders of sight and hearing, lesions of the brain. Negleyzim helps to stimulate the mobility of joints and tissue growth.
Elaprase (Elaprase)
Annual cost: $375 000
This drug, which cost more than the price of most homes, helping in the fight against hunter syndrome – a rare hereditary disease that affect the physical growth and brain development.
Femisim (Vimizim)
Annual cost: $380 000
Semisim – enzyme used for treatment of the syndrome, Morquio. This disease prevents the breakdown of long-chain sugar molecules in the patient, leading to disorders in the heart and skeletal growth, dwarfism and other serious defects.
SOLIRIS (Soliris)
Annual cost: $440 000
SOLIRIS regularly takes the leading positions in the lists of the most expensive drugs, but, at least, can claim is also the title of a very effective treatment for PNH, which affects about eight million Americans.
The disease destroys red blood cells, increasing the susceptibility of patients to infections, anemia, and blood clots. SOLIRIS helps to ease these symptoms by 90%. This drug has also proved its worth in the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, another rare and sometimes fatal disease.
Glybera
Annual cost: $1.21 million
And the title of the most expensive drugs in the world gets Glybera is a drug is still not approved in the USA, but not long ago authorised in the EU. Glybera – gene therapy used to treat family of lipoprotein lipase deficiency, a disease affecting one person per million. In the EU it affects less than 200 people. Deficiency causes extremely painful swelling of the pancreas.
© 2017, paradox. All rights reserved.
