In 2019, Vertex Pharmaceuticals released the drug Trikafta. It has been a game-changer for many people with CF like Zoey. It has significantly increased life expectancy and dramatically improved quality of life for thousands of patients… But it is also incredibly expensive.
*The list price of Trikafta is over $300,000 a year. * Why do some drugs have such a high price tag? Are drug companies greedy? Is our healthcare system failing?
How might we go about determining if the cost of developing a drug is “worth it?”
What factors do you imagine contribute to a drug’s price?
Also, what is a list price, anyway? How is it different from what patients pay out of pocket? How are a patient’s out-of-pocket costs determined, and by whom?
The answers to these questions are complex, and are part of what we will explore in this mini-course.