China’s new cancer drug Toripalimab is approved in the US but will cost 30 times more
- In China, a single-dose vial costs US$280 but in the US it will have a wholesale price of US$8,892
- Following the approval by the Food and Drug Administration, two more Chinese-made cancer drugs have received approval for distribution this month
A cancer drug developed by Chinese scientists and recently approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will cost over 30 times more in the United States than in China, with two other Chinese cancer drugs set to experience similar price bumps in the US market.
However, even with the huge price mark-up in America, the Chinese cancer drugs will still be priced significantly less than similar drugs sold in the US.
In China, the cost of a single-dose vial of Toripalimab is around 2,000 yuan (US$280), according to Chinese cancer informational websites. The wholesale cost of a single-dose vial in the US will be US$8,892.03, Coherus wrote in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. The American price is more than 31 times the price of the same drug marketed in China.
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The raised price will still be 20 per cent less than Keytruda, America’s top selling PD-1 antibody drug – a type of inhibitor that helps keep the immune system in check – according to the FiercePharma analysis website.
In China, the price of the drug is based on enrolment into the national healthcare insurance system, and is not its wholesale price.
