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Experts fear shortage of 'unprofitable' cancer drug
Published: 18 Nov 12 14:40 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20121118-46239.html
German cancer experts are warning of a looming shortage of one of the most widely used drugs to treat the disease – because pharmaceutical companies say it is not financially worth their while to make it any more.
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But many of Germany's top providers have stopped making the drug because it is not as profitable as other, more expensive ones. Of the six main companies which supplied 5-FU to pharmacies across the country, only one - Medac - is still is doing so, Der Spiegel magazine said on Sunday.
“The situation is starting to make us scared,” Thorsten Hoppe-Tichy, head of Heidelberg university hospital's pharmacy told the magazine.
“It is only a question of time until we run into serious problems,” said Wolf-Dieter Ludwig, an oncologist and chairman of the drugs commission of the German Medical Association.
Teva, a huge Israeli generic drug company, used to send 200,000 ampoules of 5-FU to Germany each year. This covered around a third of the country's needs.
Production was recently moved to Haarlem in the Netherlands, after which the company said that making the drug was not financially viable – an ampoule costs €3.90 in Germany. “One cannot economically market a sterile product of this kind with that,” said said Teva's German head Sven Dethlefs. Other, more profitable drugs will now be made at Teva’s Haarlem facility.
And the situation appeared less than encouraging for north Germany-based Medac. “The production of 5-FU is not profitable for us, either,” said company chairman Nikolaus Graf Stolberg.
He did say that the company would be looking to take a different business strategy, by offering as big a portfolio of drugs as possible to make up for the fact that some drugs were less profitable.
The Local/jcw
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Arjen Robben scored a heart-stopping 89th-minute winner to earn Bayern Munich a dramatic 2-1 win over German rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday after a thrilling Champions League final at London's Wembley Stadium. READ () »
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Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called on Germans to fight prejudice against immigrants ahead of next week's integration summit. READ () »
Chinese premier visit to strengthen trade ties
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The head of the German central Bundesbank Jens Weidmann said on Friday that eurozone countries should be able to default, a possibility which the EU has gone to great lengths to avoid during the current crisis. READ () »
Nationwide cannabis limit rolls nearer
Germany could in the future have a country-wide “tolerable limit” for cannabis possession, it was reported on Friday. Currently, this amount differs between states. READ () »
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Your comments about this article:
Who has the copyright if "six main companies which supplied 5-FU to pharmacies across the country, "
What they are doing is operating a cartel and using blackmail to try to force the price up ,I think the E.U. will step in if they are doing this Europe wide or is it just in Germany.
If Israel wants European support, putting some pressure on Teva to restart production might help.
Not to sure about this. Please correct me if I'm wrong. But doesn't the EU or some of the countries in the EU have government mandated pricing on drugs.
And of course. Why would you as a drug company even go through the process of researching a new drug. Unless there was a profit in it. So if you kill the profits you will kill the life saving drugs. It's all a balancing act.
5-FU isn't used used always as a solitary drug, it's often used in combination with other drugs. Additionally the pill form of 5-FU (an IV drug) is Xeloda. It may very well be that Xeloda is replacing 5-FU. This article is very sketchy and seems to be taking an alarmist approach.
Alternative preventative approaches to preventing cancer are hogwash, at least in the modern western world. At least as long as people insist on eating crap diets made out of chemicals instead of food, smoking, living a stressful life and holding little radiations emitting devices next to their brain (cell phones). And even if you alter all that behavior, there's always genetics to contend with as the ultimate wild card. Honestly, reseaching alternative preventative approaches isn't even necessary. People just need to use common sense, which sadly isn't that common any more.
So you would Stop sending anti malaria medicine to those in the tropics? Or that Penicillin hasn't saved countless lives. Sure a healthy life style helps tremendously. But that isn't a guarantee of not getting sick or recovering. Ask Jim Fixx. The father of modern jogging for health. He fell over dead at 52. Genetics got him. All that running over the last 15 years of his life did nothing for him. But. Had his doctors diagnosed his congenitally enlarged heart. He could have been prescribed drugs that would have helped control it. His coronary artery was 95% blocked after all that running. Had that been diagnosed. That could have been repaired.
@crm114
If you found a holistic magic bullet. You would become rich. In fact MOST medicines are just synthetic versions of a natural holistic ingredient. Aspirin(salicylic acid). Naturally occurs in the bark of the Birch tree. The heart drug Digitalis. Is found naturally in the foxglove plant. The fact of the matter is this. The government with it's millions of pages of regulations. The very long time frames to do studies. Along with predatory lawyers laying in wait to sue a doctor or drug company. Means that bringing new drugs to market. Whether they are holistic or not. Is very expensive. All of these costs will be factored into the price. And yes. The drug companies are not innocent either. That is why I say it's a balancing act.
Perhaps a provisional German government subsidy to the Graf's company granting costs + 10% until a newer, better drug evolves?
Willow Bark
Vitamin D from the Sun, regulated and taxed first, of course.
That is what I mean by preventative medicen. Reducing the above would go a long way towards reducing the need of drugs. By the way, after diseases of he heart and cancer, medical care is the biggest cause of death in the US (Journal of the American Medical Association published, Dr. Barbara Starfield).
Oh please. There is no good or bad here, its just business. Never assume its anything else.
The generics don't have to spend any money on R&D and they have none of the risk of bringing a drug to market. If all drug companies turned into generics there would be no more new drugs :-)
I've love to know what 'enough of a profit is'. Only enough to pay the top executive 2 million a year bonus rather than 4 :-)
"If Israel wants European support, putting some pressure on Teva to restart production might help."
How is Israel, as a state, responsible for a company? It's not a state owned company, have you check their stock shareholding reports recently? It's almost 98% pulic owned.
And mind you, it's the Dutch division which made the descision.
Your above statement is like saying the EU must stop cooperate with US foreign policies unless they lower the price of Happy Meals in McDonalds.
It is indeed sad that human life can be evaluated with money, but this is the reality in which we live in. I used to work for a doctor years ago, lended a book of medical caricatures from him once. This one really touched me. Two doctors at a medical convention's parking lot: One with a fancy sports car, the other in a deadbeat old beetle.
Doctor with a sportscar: "What's your practice?".
Doctor with beetle: "Cardiologist. You?".
Doctor with a sportscar: "I'm researching for a sollution against male hairloss".
The state is not responsible agreed ,however if the drugs company still has the ability to produce the drug in Israel ,then the government could if it choose apply a little pressure .
I would say this is more like the German government's approach to General motors in connection with Opel.
P.S. Hope the sportscar driving Doctor finds his solution soon as I'm coming under pressure as well.
I give you a 10 out of 10 for that comment. Hilarous stuff, but so true.
Check out this article
http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/02/10/the-truly-staggering-cost-of-inventing-new-drugs/
It makes it. A bit. Irritating. To read.