BRIEF—Dutch group to address 'unreasonably high pricing'

The newly established Dutch Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation has announced its first action to address unreasonably high medicines prices in the Netherlands, according to a report by Medicines Law & Policy.

The Foundation will request the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets to look into the price hike for the medicine chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) by the company Leadiant Biosciences (formerly Sigma-Tau).

CDCA is used for the treatment of children and adults with cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX), a rare genetic metabolic disease that affects around 60 people in the Netherlands.

CDCA has been marketed in the Netherlands by Leadiant since July 2017 at a price of 140 euros ($164) per capsule or 153,300 euros per patient per year, up from a previous 300 euros a year.