Report: Merck’s blockbuster cancer drug topped $200,000 a year under Trump
Merck & Co.’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda has risen in price to $210,000 for one year’s treatment under President Donald Trump — a 6% increase since last year, a new Senate report found.
The pharmaceutical giant is among more than a dozen companies that signed confidential deals with the Trump administration to lower the prices of some prescription drugs. However, Keytruda, an immunotherapy treatment that accounts for nearly half of Merck’s revenue, has only become more expensive.
In March, Merck’s CEO Robert M. Davis declined to answer questions from ICIJ about the deal, including whether it mentioned Keytruda or if the medicine had been excluded from consideration for lower prices in the United States.
“We cannot disclose the details of this confidential agreement,” Merck said in a statement to ICIJ sent by senior vice president Johanna Herrmann. “However, the agreement overall has a manageable impact in the short- and long-term on our business and is immaterial across the KEYTRUDA family.”
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Keytruda to treat 19 types of tumors in the U.S. But its cost can be ruinous.
The Cancer Calculus, an investigation by ICIJ and 47 media partners published this week, shows how Merck has kept the price of the lifesaving drug sky-high by building a fortress of patents to deter competition and through opaque pricing. An ICIJ analysis found that a standard 200 milligram dose of Keytruda ranged from $1,700 in Indonesia to $12,000 in the U.S., before negotiations and manufacturer rebates.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/merck-keytruda-cancer-drug-price/
https://www.icij.org/investigations/cancer-calculus/about-keytruda-cancer-calculus/
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