Teva's 'Patient First' initiative highlights struggle against high cost of biologic drugs

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, a subsidiary of Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world's leading generic pharmaceutical company, has announced the start of its "Patient First" project as part of the Year of Affordable Healthcare campaign. The initiative, available at: www.yearofaffordablehealth.com/patients, features a first-hand perspective of everyday Americans as they struggle with the enormous and sometimes insurmountable expense of paying for their prescription medicines.

The Patient First initiative features compelling, real-life stories like that of Rob Day, a father of two from Port Huron, Michigan. At age 19, Rob was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria (PNH), an extremely rare blood disorder. He has spent half his life waiting for a medicine to treat his rare condition. Now that he finally has it, he cannot afford to keep taking it, says Teva.

The medicine for his condition, a biologic, is extremely expensive, costing $389,000 a year. Rob knows that he must take this medicine for the rest of his life in order to stay alive but doesn't know how he and his family will continue to be able to afford his care.

An FDA approval pathway for generic biologic drugs that provides real, market-based competition, could yield more affordable versions of these biologic medicines for Rob and millions of other Americans in the years to come, says Teva. In addition to greater access, the benefit of timely competition will be further incentives for innovative biologic medicines that treat diseases including diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, psoriasis and cancer. An approval pathway, like the one supported by the Obama Administration and many members of Congress, would do just that - provide relief to people like Rob while introducing billions of dollars in savings for the USA's health care system, the drugmaker argues.