Court OKs pricing of Novartis' anti-leukemia drug

By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Friday said the price of Gleevec, an
anti-leukemia drug developed by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis, is not
"unreasonable," ruling in favor of the drugmaker in a years-long battle with the
local government over the cost of the medicine.

Last September, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs notified
Novartis of its decision to reduce the price of Gleevec to 19,818 won (US$17.3)
per capsule from 23,045 won, the initial price agreed to by the government and
Novartis under a deal reached in January 2003. The move came one year after a
group of civic activists and patients appealed to the ministry, complaining that
leukemia patients were forced to pay up to 2 million won per month for the
medicine.
Following the ministry's notification, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant filed a
suit with the Seoul Administrative Court, seeking to nullify the government's
move to lower the price.
"As Gleevec's upper-ceiling price was set as the average price of the drug in the
seven most advanced countries, including the United States, it is hard to
conclude the price was considerably unreasonable," the court said in its ruling.
Gleevec is used to treat patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a form
of blood cancer in which the body produces too many abnormal white blood cells.
The deadly disease afflicts about 500 people in Korea each year, according to the
ministry.
Major foreign pharmaceutical firms and the Korean government have battled over
the pricing of several other essential drugs. Civic groups say that charging the
same price in Korea as in the world's richest countries is unfair considering
that per capita GDP is a lot higher in those countries.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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