Medicare Coverage to Include One of The Newest & Most Expensive Cancer Drugs

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The costly anticancer drug Blincyto by Amgen will now be covered by Medicare, according to the Obama Administration.

The anticancer drug Blincyto is indicated for patients with a particularly aggressive form of cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is a type of malignant illness that attacks the bone marrow and other blood-forming organs. The New York Times reports that Medicare will be making additional payments for the drug starting Oct. 1.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Blincyto is one of the most expensive treatments available for cancer. It costs around $178,000 for two 28-day cycles of treatment.

The report by NY Times cited that Obama was concerned about the high cost of medicines for the consumers, and that he ordered the health and human services department to start negotiations with drug companies for more affordable medicines for Medicare beneficiaries.

A petition to lower cancer drugs posted in Mayo Clinic Proceedings was supported by hundreds of doctors from around the country.

"The good news is that effective new cancer therapies are being developed by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at a faster rate than ever before," the doctors wrote in the journal.

"More than 900 new drugs are under development, many for rare cancers. Drug companies should be rewarded with reasonable profits for these efforts. The unfortunate news, also acknowledged by some of the pharmaceutical leadership, is that the current pricing system is unsustainable and not affordable for many patients."

Last April, the Obama administration decided to not pay for Blincyto since the studies for the new drug was not efficient enough to improve the condition of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, on Aug. 17, the administration backtracked on their preliminary decision after Amgen and several other experts gave the administration "additional information and input," reports The Boston Globe.

Dr. Steven Mamus of Cancer Center Sarasota Manatee said this decision from Medicare yields promise as the agency becomes more open to pay for experimental therapies that are currently still on trials. He added that doctors should also have a hand in presenting patients with several treatment options as well.

"There may be a case where a drug is offered in several price points," Dr. Mamus told WWSB Station. "If one costs ten dollars, another seventy five, and a third in the hundreds, patients should be given these options."