Lawmakers are getting angry over a new price hike for a drug, this time targeting a cancer drug whose price was raised four times this year alone.
Former presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent a letter Thursday to Ariad Pharmaceuticals for answers about Iclusig, which treats a bone marrow cancer that makes too many white blood cells. Sanders and Cummings, who have targeted high-priced drugs, said Ariad has added more than $80,000 to the drug’s already high price tag this year.
The letter comes after Congress highlighted multiple price hikes for several drugs. The latest outcry centered on the allergy drug EpiPen, whose cost has risen to $600 for a two-pack.
Iclusig was approved in December 2012, and its initial price was $115,000 per year. Ariad suspended sales in 2013 after reports of serious side effects.
In December 2013, the Food and Drug Administration allowed Ariad to resume selling Iclusig, but to a smaller group of patients.
The drug’s price steadily rose since then, and this year the price was raised four times to nearly $199,000 a year, or $16,561 a month, the letter said.
Cummings and Sanders asked the CEO of Ariad several questions about the profits from the drug, total expenses related to research and development, manufacturing and marketing, and sales contracts for Iclusig’s active ingredient.
Ariad responded by pointing to its significant investment in research and development, a common defense among drug makers facing questions over high prices.
“Ariad has invested more than $1.3 billion in [research and development] and accumulated losses of approximately $1.4 billion since the company was founded, which have not been recovered,” the company said. “In 2015, Ariad generated $119 million in total revenue and invested $171 million, or 143 percent of revenue, in [research & development].”
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have taken turns targeting high prices.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, where Cummings is the top Democrat, had brought in the drug makers Valeant and Turing Pharmaceuticals over high prices for older generics, and the CEO of Mylan, which makes EpiPen.
