Experts Lounge

Changes in prices though inevitable , huge price changes and more so increments , could potent serious repercussions . This is more so when the commodity in question is life saving in nature such as drugs .

In the case of pharmaceuticals , companies explain that they set high prices to recoup investment in failed drugs , support future research and development efforts and pay for clinical trials to broaden the use of approved drugs . This argument has been advanced to support high pricing for novel branded products .

The recent price increases affecting old drug molecules in the US which is premised on different principles , continue to elicit debates , even among the 2016 Presidential election contest .

A look at a few products highlighted towards the end of this article would help explain the current disquiet in the US healthcare market .

In the recent past , huge price hikes have been noted on colchicine , daraprim ( pyrimethamine ), cycloserine and now adrenaline ( epinephrine ) injection .

This is not to claim that these are the only price increases witnessed by the US pharma industry , far from it .

We choose to highlight these cases for reason that they warrant a comment due to the interest and wide condemnation it has received and to stress the fact that these increments are exceptionally huge and abnormal .

Furthermore , the products in question are old molecules whose generic versions are widely available in many parts of the world , including developing countries such as Kenya .

Some of these molecules are used to manage conditions including orphaned ( rare ) diseases like Kalazaar which troubles Kenyans in the northern part of the country .

Daraprim ( Pyrimethamine )

Daraprim an antibiotic , is a 62 years old drug and a standard of care for management of life threatening parasitic infection toxoplasmosis , which commonly affects AIDS patients . Daraprim ’ s cost was Sh100 ($ 1 ) a tablet up to 2010 when Core Pharma acquired the rights to market and distribute in the US from GSK .

After acquisition , CorePharma reviewed the price upwards to Sh1,400 ($ 13.50 ) per tablet . In August 2015 , Core Pharma sold the US rights of Daraprim to Turing Pharmaceuticals Ltd , which raised the price to a whopping Sh 75,000 ($ 750 ) a tablet , making the annual cost of treatment unaffordable , thereby denying access for many patients .

Cycloserine

Cycloserine , discovered in 1952 , is part of a group of drugs used in the treatment of drug resistant TB called second-line agents .

It is used as part of treatment regimen , to treat Multi-Drug Resistant ( MDR ) TB . Cycloserine was acquired by Rodelis Therapeutics from Chao Center last year .

Shortly after this acquisition , Rodelis Therapeutics increased its price from Sh 50,000 ($ 500 ) to Sh1.08 million ($ 10,800 ) for 30 tablets .

The resulting public backlash and criticism from the previous owner , Chao Center , forced Rodelis Therapeutics to return the ownership rights back to Chao Center , a non-profit organisation , who re - priced the drug downwards to Sh105,000 ($ 1,050 ) for 30 tablets , which is more than double the price it sold before .

November-December 2016 9