His cancer drug costs $90,000/month. Doctors say it’s greed

The room erupted in a standing ovation when medical researchers at an annual meeting in June presented trial results for a pancreatic cancer drug. The pill doubled average survival for advanced patients from six months to 13. Not a cure, but a major leap for one of the deadliest forms of cancer. The U.S. approved the drug, Daraxanrasib, three months later. Then came the price tag, nearly $40,000 U.S. a month, nearly $60,000 Canadian. But a patient in B.C. says the real out-of-pocket cost can be much higher. Everybody says off the cuff, yeah, I'd pay anything to stay alive until you're actually forced with a decision. Frontline oncologists across Canada are sounding the alarm over cancer drug prices pushing public health care past a breaking point. They warn we are entering a reality where life-extending cancer medicines exist on paper but remain priced beyond reach for the patients who need them. I don't think we will be able to survive for, you know, another 10, 15 years if every single company is going to price their drugs in the $200,000, $300,000, $400,000 a year. We invited leading cancer specialists to talk candidly about drug prices. Dozens showed up from their homes, hospital clinics and operating rooms. I think everyone would agree that the pharmaceutical company deserves to profit from this. But I think this is so far beyond what's reasonable that I think this is an example really of corporate greed, to speak very plainly. And that corporate greed is, you know, going to harm patients and health systems. How many of you talk drug costs with patients? Wow, so that's almost everyone. Data show average drug prices per patient have surged over the last three decades. In the 90s, standard chemotherapy and hormonal drugs ran $300 to $5,000 per patient per year. By the 2000s, targeted therapies jumped from $30,000 to $60,000. A decade later, sticker prices for immunotherapies reached $80,000 to $150,000 a year. Today, advanced gene and cellular therapies are between $150,000 to $700,000 per patient per year. I feel it particularly galling that they're charging this amount of money on the basis of clinical trials in which patients agreed to try this medication versus best supportive care. And they're profiting off the backs of our patients. It's causing moral injury. Doctors say they do everything they can to get patients free access through clinical trials or compassionate programs. But if a drug isn't approved by Health Canada or covered by public or private insurance, patients are left to pay on their own. It's been a very hard conversation with many of my patients. He sent a young patient to the U.S. to get a new cancer drug paid for through a trial. She was denied. Still, it haunts me to this day because I called them right after that appointment and there was just a deafening silence and then she just started to cry. My soul was so crushed at that point and I didn't know what to say to her except I will be with her till the very last day. The burden on patients who do pay is staggering. James Howard has advanced pancreatic cancer. You have to ask yourself the question that nobody's ever prepared to ask themselves is how much is your life worth, right? Howard is paying for Daraxan Rassib entirely out of pocket. The drug could extend his life by seven months before resistance sets in. It's not approved in Canada, forcing him to buy it in the U.S. $90,000 Canadian. That's $90,000 a month. It's on the order of magnitude of whatever you want to discuss this as a down payment for a condo every month to potentially keep yourself alive? And how long would you? So it's not sustainable long-term. Drug policy experts say the root of the pricing pressure points directly south of the border. Most new drugs launch in the U.S., where federal law prevents Medicare from negotiating prices at launch. That sets an artificially high price tag globally. When single-payer systems like Canada try to negotiate affordable rates, drug makers often push back by delaying drug launches and resisting price cuts. Drug companies often say high prices pay for research and future breakthroughs. But health experts point out that much of that early research is taxpayer-funded and prices are really just based on what the market will bear. Doctors we spoke with believe the math for Daraxan Rassib doesn't add up. I think I read something that Revolutionary Medicine was worth about $4 billion before their drug was approved and it's gone up to about $40 billion. Revolution Medicines declined an interview but said in a statement that its pricing reflects meaningful therapeutic advancement while supporting continued scientific innovation. The company added that its patient support program helps eligible patients gain rapid access to their drug. This is not just a Canadian problem. I think the only way this will change is if there is some global regulation that protects patients and protects patients' rights to therapies that are affordable. There needs to be a recalibration. And, you know, similar, there was, you know, analogies when the highly effective HIV drugs came out in the 1980s and 90s and were totally unaffordable. And through social and civil engagement and community pressure, that changed. And I think that that might be a path forward. Thank you. Many left the call with the same message. A drug isn't a breakthrough if it doesn't get to patients.