'Breakthrough' child cancer drug costs $475K, and this advocate says that's way too much

From CBC website today:

"The drug, Kymriah, is the first cancer drug that genetically engineers patients' own blood cells into an army of assassins to seek and destroy childhood leukaemia, and it's customized to each patient. 

Patients for Affordable Drugs' David Mitchell, a cancer patient himself, says the $475,000 US cost of this one-time treatment developed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals is "excessive" and reflects the "systemic problem" in the U.S. health-care system. "

Read the article.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.4201443/breakthrough-child-cancer-drug-costs-475k-and-this-advocate-says-that-s-way-too-much-1.4272742