UCLA’s Effort to Patent a Costly Prostate Cancer Drug in India Hurts the Poor, Critics Say October 22, 2017 After scientists at UCLA created a breakthrough treatment for prostate cancer, it generated more than half a billion dollars for the university.But deals struck with drugmakers also obligated university officials to help pursue patent protection for the drug around the world. Now, consumer activists claim that UCLA’s efforts are propping up the drug’s high prices — which can top $130,000 a year for a cancer patient in the U.S. — and keeping poor patients in less-developed nations from getting cheaper versions.Read more.Source: The Los Angeles Times Prostate Cancer News
After scientists at UCLA created a breakthrough treatment for prostate cancer, it generated more than half a billion dollars for the university.But deals struck with drugmakers also obligated university officials to help pursue patent protection for the drug around the world. Now, consumer activists claim that UCLA’s efforts are propping up the drug’s high prices — which can top $130,000 a year for a cancer patient in the U.S. — and keeping poor patients in less-developed nations from getting cheaper versions.Read more.Source: The Los Angeles Times