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Sculptra's price tag too high for many HIV patients

Sculptra's price tag too high for many HIV patients

When the Food and Drug Administration in August approved Sculptra, an injectable synthetic polymer useful in treating HIV-related facial wasting, scores of HIV patients around the country began talking with their doctors about the new compound, the Washington Blade reports. But after Sculptra developer Dermik Laboratories announced that the U.S. price of the treatment would be almost four times higher than the price charged in Europe, where the compound has been used since 1999, the numbers of U.S. HIV patients expressing interest in the treatment have dwindled. Sculptra sells for $125 per bottle in Europe and South America but costs $480 in the United States. Each facial-wasting treatment requires two to three bottles, and anywhere from three to six full treatments are needed to fully reverse the signs of lipoatrophy. Each patient also typically needs an additional one to two bottles per year for maintenance therapy. Assuming that a full course of treatment could consist of up to 18 bottles, U.S. patients could pay up to $8,640 for the treatment, almost $6,400 more than HIV patients in Europe and South America. The price of the drug is so high that Peter Engelhard, director of Apex South Beach clinic, which specializes in facial atrophy treatment, saw 140 of 170 of his HIV patients on a waiting list for Sculptra withdraw because they couldn't afford it. "They're either getting a different product or none at all. It's too bad, because this is the best one," he told the Blade. Dermik's communications manager says the company is developing a patient access program for HIV-positive people unable to afford Sculptra. Program details should be available in late October. Health insurance companies will likely not cover Sculptra treatments because the drug is considered a cosmetic treatment. AIDS Drug Assistance Programs also aren't expected to cover Sculptra, AIDS advocates say.

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