Price is set for Avastin

Title: FDA Approves Genentech's Avastin Colon Cancer Medicine
Source: LA Times
Date: February 27, 2004

From the article:

At a cost of $4,400 a month, Avastin would also be one of the most expensive cancer treatments available, analysts said. The addition of Avastin to standard chemotherapy would raise the annual cost of treatment to $60,000 to $80,000.

And:

The price set for Avastin is more than double the predictions for the drug on Wall Street, which ranged from $1,500 to $2,000 a month.

Ian Clark, general manager of Genentech's cancer drug business, said the price reflects the value the drug provides to patients including "a significant survival benefit."

"We feel the price we fixed is a fair one and we think customers will see it that way," Clark said.

As mentioned in a previous post on Erbitux, "The pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable industry in the U.S. The reason for this profitability lies in a distinct advantage that drug companies have when they sell their products. If you have a disease such as colon cancer and you are going to die shortly, you will pay any amount of money for drugs that offer some chance of survival. Therefore, a drug company can charge any amount it wishes." Thus, the price of Avastin is double the predictions of analysts (and they would have already been padding their predictions based on the predatory nature of drug companies). The drug company can set the price to anything -- a person who is dying has no choice but to pay it. It is a very effective tool for concentrating wealth.