Medical research and prescription drugs have come a long way and have certainly saved countless lives over the years. While we can’t cure every disease and save everyone from their ailments, there are quite a bit of pharmaceutical drugs out there on the market that can combat most of them. These drugs are made by bio-engineers and chemists and they contain a wide range of ingredients, some of which can be rare and expensive. Typically drug companies put a great deal of time and testing into their product to ensure the safest results. Now for the average consumer that’s insured, prescription drugs can range from inexpensive to extremely costly. The more expensive drug treatments are often drugs that are still patented and are a name brand. These particular drugs have no generic version which is why they cost so much. Additionally the most expensive drugs are often used to combat extremely rare diseases which makes them very costly. We are going to take a look at the most expensive pharmaceutical drugs and drug treatments in the world.
10. Cerezyme – $200,000 per year
Cerezyme is first up on our list and it is a fairly expensive drug due to what it treats and how its produced. The drug is used to fight Gaucher’s disease, an extremely rare condition that causes fat to be deposited in the liver, bone marrow, brain, and lungs of a person. The disease is difficult to fight but Cerezyme helps to prevent the fat from building up. Cerezyme is made from a DNA process that comes from hamster ovaries.
9. Aldurazyme – $200,000 per year
Aldurazyme is a drug used to provide special enzymes used to breakdown sugar, specifically those with Hurler Syndrome. There are only around 600 people with this disease worldwide and the drug helps them break down sugar molecules that build up in joints and organs. The drug is also administered intravenously. The sad reason that drugs like these can be so expensive is they are harder for the pharmaceutical companies to make money off of, as so few people have this disease.
8. Arcalyst – $250,000 per year
Arcalyst is used to treat acute inflammatory diseases caused by many rare genetic disorders. It is most commonly used to treat Muckle-Wells syndrome. Diseases like Muckle-Wells syndrome cause super-strong and dangerous inflammatory responses when fighting off other diseases.
7. Myozyme – $300,000 per year
Myozyme is prescribed to fight Pompe Disease, a disease which causes a toxic buildup of glycogen in organs, joints, and various other parts of the human body. The disese is fairly rare and can endanger ones life.
6. Kalydeco – $307,000 per year
Kalydeco is next up on our list. This drug is used to fight a specific form of genetic mutation that causes a rare type of cystic fibrosis. The drug creates and fixes broken proteins that are used to allow salt to flow from in and out of a cell’s wall.
5. Cinryze – $350,000 per year
Cinryze is a drug used to fight the rare cases of hereditary Angioedema. This diseases cause the body to swell in various areas that are caused by a failing protein. The disease is predominantly hereditary, however some rare cases are known to exist from random genetic mutation.
4. Folotyn – $360,000 per year
Folotyn is an important drug that is used to fight T-cell lymphoma; lymphoma that is non-Hodgin’s. This type of lymphoma is the rarest and makes up about 10% of all forms of lymphoma. The drug has been shown to reduce the cancerous tumors, however it hasn’t been linked to increasing the lifespan of a patient.
3. Naglazyme – $365,000 per year
Naglazyme is a drug used to combat the extremely rare condition known as Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, a disease that causes one’s body to improperly absorb and process nutrients. The disease causes nutrients to build up in organs, teeth, bones, and many other areas of the body making it very dangerous. Naglazyme helps the body absorb the nutrients.
2. Elaprase – $375,000 per year
Elaprase is used to treat Hunter’s Syndrome, a disease that maybe 2,000 people in the world have. Most cases of the disease are found in men, as it is a genetic disease caused by a mutation found within the X chromosome. The drug is administered intravenously and helps the body process nutrients and to reduce damage.
1. Soliris – $409,500 per year
Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria is a rare genetic disease that causes red blood cells to breakdown and die very quickly. Obviously this is very dangerous, and Soliris is used to combat the disease and others like it. While it is not a cure, the drug can help ease pain, maintain symptoms, and prevent blood clots found in the patient in addition to lengthening their lives. It is unfortunately life-threatening and most suffers will eventually die from the disease.
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