Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Tuesday, issued the following statement after the administration rejected a march-in rights petition to lower the price of a vital cancer drug:
“I am extremely disappointed that the Biden Administration denied a petition by prostate cancer patients to substantially reduce the price of Xtandi. This is a drug that was invented with taxpayer dollars by scientists at UCLA and can be purchased in Canada for one-fifth the U.S. price.
“The Japanese drugmaker Astellas, which made $1 billion in profits in 2021, has raised the price of this drug by more than 75 percent to over $166,000 per year. How many prostate cancer patients will die because they cannot afford this unacceptable price?
“As the chairman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I will do everything I can to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and make sure that drugs that are developed with U.S. taxpayer money are sold here at a reasonable price.”
XTANDI is an important prescription medication for dealing with prostate cancer that has become resistant to hormone therapy or surgical treatment to lower testosterone. It can also be used when the cancer has spread throughout the body and is still responding to hormone therapy or surgery. The benefits of XTANDI are considered to far outweigh any potential side effects, granting men a viable option to combat their diagnosis in a safe, effective manner.
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