[split] Dimethylfumarates and Psoriasis

[Bill]

Hi Caroline,

Bagels are my limit. I find croissants a bit tricky, though in this age of YouTube I should have another go.

Getting drugs approved is an expensive process, and psoriasis sufferers requiring systemics isn't a big market. In Australia a company intending to market a therapeutic has to fund a trial in Australia regardless of any demonstrated safety and efficacy elsewhere. So a drug out of patent with a small market will not get approval here as it would not make economic sense for a company to do so. And it would make even less sense to market a much cheaper yet identical drug when Tecfidera could be getting government subsidies of about $50 million a year for raw material costing a few thousand dollars. DMF is far cheaper (under $20 US per year for me currently), more effective and much safer than MTX, but for the above reasons it is out of reach for many. It is a shame DMF has been banned as an industrial chemical in Europe because of incidents where it seems to have been misused. There is a myriad of chemicals that are far more hazardous if misused, muriatic acid and lye being prime examples. Why not ban them also?

Cheers,

Bill