PRICE of new eczema drugs

Moderators: talkhealth, Marcie Mom, AnnaB, StephanieJae, Koh Ming Shao

Post Reply
5 posts
poopoo88
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:16 pm
Quote

by poopoo88 on Tue Jan 31, 2017 12:37 pm

PRICE of new eczema drugs

I visited today my doctor concerning eczema treatments. Usual light therapy, steroids, moisturizers were discussed.

I asked about new treatments mentioned in WSJ:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-eczema ... 1464637182
https://www.wsj.com/articles/regeneron- ... 1459486801

My doctor stated that they have done initial test on these and they seem to work. He said in the future they are only available to very few most severe cases due to high price. Only given to patients with whom nothing else helps. Dupilumab according to my doctor appears to be most promising.

Price of these new treatments is approximately 2000 EUR / month and has to be used on a permanent basis. I asked whether price of these new treatments is the same in the USA (app. 2200 USD / month) he said that most likely price is the same there as in Europe.

He also said that pricing of these new biological medicines appears so that different corporations price these new eczema treaments in the same level.

All in all getting touch one needs 24000 EUR / year to get treated.

ShandaEllert
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2017 7:01 am
Quote

by ShandaEllert on Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:45 pm

Re: PRICE of new eczema drugs

I am 31 and have had eczema on and off since Jr. High. For 3 straight years in my 20's, I also had eczema all over my face, neck, and chest! I went to doctors, dermatologists, got skin biopsies, allergy tests, blood tests etc, but they couldn't figure it out...3 whole years later, I finally did; I realized it was the chlorine in our water because my eczema had gotten so bad when we had moved to the city. Once I put a filter on our shower head, it went away in a few days! I still am prone to getting dry skin (I live in AK, so sometimes in the winter, the air gets dry, Or if I sweat when I workout, that causes my skin to itch too.)
But what I've found is: apple cider vinegar is the only thing that has ever helped my eczema and dry skin. I use it daily and dab it on any itch or scratch; and I also put it on (diluted with water) my face after my shower before going to bed.
*I always need to remember to dilute it when I put it on my face, because your face is sensitive, and apple cider vinegar full strength could sting and dry it out more. If u ever accidentally put full strength on; add water to your face!
*Also, if I have any cuts or scratches (which sometimes if I forget to trim my nails, and I accidentally scratch my skin) I use apple cider vinegar to dis-infect them, and then put raw honey over it with a bandaid. (If the scratch or wound is on your face, I put raw honey on it before bed, and cover that with a paper towel. Then just wash your face in the morning.
Raw honey is the best healer for your skin! It has so many nutrients your skin needs to heal and soften! If I have a dry spot on my face, I usually will put water on my face before the raw honey; that way the raw honey traps the water in your skin to hydrate it even more.
*Another thing is, in the shower; I don't use any soaps on my face or arms etc. If I have a dry spot, I usually put a dab of oil on it before hopping in the shower. This will help it retain the water in the skin.
*I also try to always keep my finger nails short. Just in case I ever accidentally scratch without thinking about it. (I've caused many deep cuts accidentally when I wasn't thinking about it, just itching my arm or leg etc.)
*One time I had accidentally rubbed my eye when I was itching from a cat allergy, and the next day I had a red dry mark right under my eye...for the life of me I couldn't get this big red mark to go away...I put vitamin e on it every day, several times a day to no avail. Then I read somewhere, that its not oil that hydrates your skin, but water! You need just a drop of oil after putting water on your skin, so it will hold the water in your skin. I immediately started just putting water on my skin without a ton of oil (a lot of oil just makes your skin hot and itch more usually!) -I just used a drop of healthy oil (olive, jojoba, etc) and it worked! The dry red mark on my face went away within a couple days!

I felt like I needed to write all this, because I remember what it was like so vividly- always doing desperate google searches to look for cures...so many said to use oil, but that made it worse for me! I tried prescription steroids, creams, etc.. to no avail...
My lesions would ooze, crack, bleed, get infected, etc! I could hardly sleep when I had oil all over my skin at night. It was so painful sometimes that I'd use aloe with lidocaine. It'd bring relief and coolness for the dry, itchy and burning feeling, but it still kept my skin looking bright red!
I also had lived off the raw food diet for 3 years, when I had thought that maybe I had some food allergy or something my body was intolerable to.

This is my nightly shower routine that has worked: water on my skin, then a little healthy oil on any dry spots if needed. After the shower, I put Apple Cider Vinegar diluted with water on my face. Lastly, if needed; Raw Honey on any open wounds.
This has been the only thing that has worked for my eczema- hope this helps!

mariobryant
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:34 pm
Quote

by mariobryant on Mon Mar 20, 2017 9:29 pm

Re: PRICE of new eczema drugs

Generics for this class of drugs (antibodies/biologics) work differently from standard drugs (small molecules). To bring a generic to market, a company has to run their own trials and even then still is fairly expensive to produce. This is why so many drug companies are so enthusiastic about biologics, they essentially get a free patent extension and can just lower the price a bit to make developing a generic not worth the effort. Think a 25% price cut, not 95%.
Last edited by Anonymous on Tue Mar 21, 2017 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Promotional URL not allowed: Removed

jamielee
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:39 am
Quote

by jamielee on Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:47 am

Re: PRICE of new eczema drugs

A big issue for cost is health insurance policies. The US is going through a lot of uncertainty/turmoil at the moment. Pre-existing patients can get covered currently in the US, if I am not mistaken. However, I believe there is legislation to overturn that in the works... The price you feel depends on a lot on what happens with insurance policies.

Just looked up the prices in the US. According to the NYTimes, the price is $37K/year before insurance.

susan423
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:04 am
Quote

by susan423 on Wed Aug 30, 2017 2:14 am

Re: PRICE of new eczema drugs

I started dipixent 6 weeks ago and it seems to be helping. However my copay is 718.00 a month. I will not be able to stay on it for too much longer.I have had eczema as long as I can remember. I am 62 years old and my eczema has gotten worse over the last 6 years. I have been hospitalized numerous times for MRSA which is entering my bloodstream through my eczema. I have been waiting for this medication for most of my life. It seems to be a life changer but I won't be able to continue with the injections because of the price. This is the most frustrated I have ever been.....

Post Reply
5 posts