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 The drug, Firdapse, is used to treat Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic
Syndrome (LEMS), a rare neuromuscular disorder, according to the
letter, made available to Reuters by the senator's office. The
disorder affects about one in 100,000 people in the United States.
The government is intensifying its scrutiny of the pharmaceutical
industry and rising prescription drug prices, a top voter concern
and a priority of President Donald Trump's administration.
Both the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives and the
Senate, controlled by Republicans, have begun holding hearings this
year on the rising costs of medicines. Sanders is an independent who
usually votes with Democrats.
In the letter dated Feb. 4, Sanders asked Catalyst to lay out the
financial and non-financial factors that led the company to set the
list price at $375,000, and say how many patients would suffer or
die as a result of the price and how much it was paying to purchase
or produce the drug.
For years, patients have been able to get Firdapse for free from
Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small New Jersey-based drug company,
which offered it through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
program called "compassionate use."
The program allows patients with rare diseases and conditions access
to experimental drugs outside of a clinical trial when there is no
viable alternative.
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Florida-based Catalyst received FDA approval of Firdapse in
November, along with exclusive rights to market the medication for
several years. The company, which bought rights to the drug from a
company called BioMarin in 2012, develops and commercializes drugs
for rare diseases.
In December, Catalyst announced it would price Firdapse at $375,000
a year.
"Catalyst's decision to set the annual list price at $375,000 is not
only a blatant fleecing of American taxpayers, but is also an
immoral exploitation of patients who need this medication," Sanders
wrote in his letter.
Sanders joins other U.S. lawmakers in investigating the pricing
practices of pharmaceutical companies this year.
Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House
Oversight Committee, in January wrote to 12 pharmaceutical firms
asking for detailed information on how they set drug prices.
Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Diana DeGette wrote to
the heads of Eli Lilly and Co, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi SA, the
long-time leading manufacturers of insulin, requesting information
on why the drug's price has skyrocketed in recent years.
(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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