Gene Therapies are miracle drugs, but miracles are not cheap, they cost a fortune. Discovering new drugs for fatal diseases require a great deal of resources and a ton of money, an investment so huge that only a few big pharmaceutical companies can afford.

Gene therapies target diseases with incredible precision, with less adverse effect and deliver a great outcome, however, the enormous cost of these miracle drugs raising the eyebrows.

Zolgensma approved by the FDA, and the price set at $2.1 million per patient.

The only other Gene Therapy, approved by the FDA, was a drug called SPINRAZA costing $750,000 for the first year, and 375,000 per year thereafter, for the rest of a patient’s life.

So the argument of Novartis, the maker of Zolgensma, is simple and it makes sense. The drug truly is a miracle drug, patients need to take the drug only once in their lifetime! Compared to other drugs that require yearly booster shots for the rest of life. Which one will you chose? It’s a no brainer.

About 500 kids in America, each year, are born with the fatal disease called, Spinal Muscular Atrophy, and a majority of those afflicted with SMA, sadly, die before their second birthday. So, for the parents of these children it’s a miracle, however, very few insurance companies can afford to pay such a large amount ($2 million per patient) without raising premiums for the rest of their members.

Moreover, FDA is expected to approve 10 to 25 new ‘miracle drugs’ each year. And that is raising big questions, the financial viability of insurance companies is at stake, and the rising insurance premiums causing a great deal of financial stress, especially, to the middle class and the low income households.

AND WHAT ABOUT THE UNINSURED? Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, is not the answer. 

I don’t know of any politician who is that smart and courageous to tackle the problem head on, and come up with an equitable, fair and compelling solution to such a complex problem. The Party in power, and the Party that wants to be in power both have one thing in common: Cheap slogans to deceive Americans.

 Our members and readers are amazing, and they are way smarter than an average politician and their cronies peddling fake remedies.

Editor

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Source: WSJ, Daily Stock Deals, OxBridge Research, OTC Stock Wire