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A family of four, two children, middle-class life, the peace of the family is shattered by sudden bad news - the eldest daughter has been diagnosed with a rare cancer.
Doctors recommended a targeted medication, but the price was high enough to leave the family heavily in debt. The family's financial situation suddenly became tense, but for the sake of their daughter's life, they did not hesitate to choose to buy.
The emergence of targeted drugs has brought hope to many cancer patients. But why is the price of this promising drug prohibitively high? Experts gave an explanation.
First of all, it needs to be clear that the development cost of targeted drugs is extremely high. Unlike traditional chemotherapy drugs, targeted drugs are designed for specific markers of cancer cells, and their research and development process requires a lot of basic research, involving in-depth genetic, protein and cell-level research. Such a development process is not only long-term, but also requires a lot of capital investment.
Secondly, the cost of clinical trials of targeted drugs is also quite high. In the process of drug development, clinical trials are an indispensable link. Because of their specificity, targeted drugs need to find a suitable patient population for testing, which increases the difficulty and cost of screening.
Moreover, because targeted drugs are likely to be effective only for specific patient groups, their market size is relatively small, and the price of drugs is relatively high to recover R&D costs.
Moreover, the production cost of targeted drugs is not low. Unlike traditional chemically synthesized drugs, most targeted drugs are biological products that require specific production conditions, such as specific bioreactors, purification equipment, etc., which increase production costs.
In addition, the risk of developing targeted drugs is also relatively large. Most new drugs fail during the development process, and targeted drugs have a higher probability of failure because of their specificity. Therefore, in order to compensate for the loss of R&D failure, the price of successfully marketed drugs is often higher.
However, high drug prices put enormous financial pressure on patients, leaving many families heavily in debt. In this regard, experts said that it is not impossible to reduce the price of drugs. With the advancement of technology, the cost of R&D and production is expected to decrease. At the same time, as the market expands, the sales volume of targeted drugs increases, the profit per unit drug decreases, and the price of drugs may also decrease.
In addition, the government and society are also working to reduce the financial burden on patients. Many countries have drug reimbursement policies that provide some financial support to patients. Some charitable organizations and pharmaceutical companies also offer patient assistance programs to help patients with financial difficulties access targeted drugs.
However, these measures are not enough. For many families, even with reimbursement and assistance, they still have to bear a lot of financial pressure. This has also aroused widespread concern in the society, and people have called on pharmaceutical companies, the government and all sectors of society to work together to reduce drug prices and benefit more patients.
National policies and regulations are also gradually adapting to address this problem. For example, to encourage drug innovation, some countries offer patent protection for new drugs, during which other companies cannot produce generic drugs.
But when the patent expires, other companies can produce generic copies of the drug, which will greatly increase competition in the market and thus reduce the price of the drug. In addition, the government has also negotiated prices with pharmaceutical companies through centralized procurement to obtain more favorable drug prices.
Pharmaceutical companies also say they care deeply about the interests of patients. With the advancement of technology and the expansion of production scale, the production cost of drugs is also decreasing. Moreover, pharmaceutical companies are also trying to find new business models, such as reducing the treatment cycle through the development of combination therapies, thereby reducing the overall cost of treatment for patients.
The high price of targeted drugs is a complex issue, involving drug development, production, sales, policy and other aspects. To truly solve this problem, it is necessary for the government, pharmaceutical companies, medical institutions, patients and all sectors of society to work together. Only in this way can we ensure that every patient who needs it has access to effective, safe, and affordable treatment.
In addition, public education is important. Many patients and families often misunderstand high-priced drugs due to lack of knowledge about drugs, which also increases their psychological pressure.
Through popular science education, let more people understand the process of drug development, production and sales, and why some drugs are expensive, which can help them look at this problem more rationally and reduce unnecessary anxiety and panic.
In short, targeted drugs have brought new therapeutic hope to many cancer patients, but their high price has also put great pressure on patients and families. To truly solve this problem, we need to work together so that every patient gets the treatment they deserve.
What do you think about "sky-high" targeted drugs? Welcome to discuss in the comment area!