Lilly Prices Portrazza at $8,000 Per Treatment Cycle

Eli Lilly has put a premium price tag on its new lung cancer drug Portrazza: $8,000 per treatment cycle.

The drug, which received FDA approval in late November, is indicated for patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer.

According to Lilly spokeswoman Carla Cox, the average patient will require six courses of treatment, which at $8,000 for each cycle works out to $48,000. She stressed that very few patients would ever pay this price, due to insurance coverage, medical assistance programs and price negotiations between industry and insurers.

Research conducted on the drug prior to its approval and subsequent pricing concluded that Portrazza (necitumumab) did comparatively little to combat metastatic squamous cell lung cancer when paired with chemotherapy, added an average of 1.6 months to patients’ lifespans, with a 0.11 percent improvement in quality-adjusted survival.