Dutch join backlash at expensive drugs by making their own

Three – Erasmus, Amsterdam’s University Medical Center (UMC) and the Transvaal Pharmacy in The Hague – have vowed to bypass drug company products and make treatments for a handful of rare diseases themselves, exercising their right to “compound” medicines. The drug industry, including Swiss giant Novartis and Italian-based Leadiant, argue Dutch national supervision of pharmacy preparations is not comparable to the European standards that apply to pharmaceutical companies. High prices are not unusual for new rare disease drugs, as companies must recoup development costs from a relatively small group of patients.

Source: www.reuters.com