A new drug to help the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis has entered lawmakers’ scopes as is becomes a topic of controversy regarding investment issues.
A political debate over Xeljanz, produced by Pfizer, has cost taxpayers a whopping $24,666 (£16,193) a year, which is said to grow into $2.3 billion by 2018, reflecting the company’s initial investment of $1 billion two decades ago. Pfizer joined up with a research team to produce Xeljanz. Initially, the company declined involving itself with the research team in 1994, the pricing terms of which asked for the company to “reflect the taxpayers’ investment and the health and safety needs of the public.”
Two years later, the pricing clause was removed and Pfizer worked with the team to create Xeljanz, a protein-based drug to reduce the symptoms of arthritis.
“When taxpayer-funded research helps stimulate efforts like the Xeljanz research and development program, there is a substantial return on investment,” the Pfizer statement says. “If a company chooses to initiate a high-risk $1 billion investment, as we did, that is a significant return to the American public.”
The National Institutes of Health however, has been treated with scrutiny, with its research reportedly having no “treatment-related discoveries and did not contribute in any way to the Xeljanz R&D program.” Furthermore, the report was notably vague, which means that the public’s investments into the drug is being treated with significant concern.
“American taxpayers are entitled to realize a return on their investment in N.I.H. research resulting in this — or any other — breakthrough drug. Surely price gouging isn’t what they expect or deserve,” U.S. Representative Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif told the New York Times.
With the grey area of tax-funded medication, the debate is drawn as to whether or not publicly-funded medication should cost its prescriber less. With companies attempting to make a profit and its consumers trying to improve their lives, it is interesting that the question is not “does it work?” but instead is, “how much will it cost?”