WASHINGTON, March 21 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on Tuesday issued the following statement after the administration rejected a march-in rights petition to lower the price of a vital cancer drug:

“I am extremely disappointed that the Biden Administration denied a petition by prostate cancer patients to substantially reduce the price of Xtandi. This is a drug that was invented with taxpayer dollars by scientists at UCLA and can be purchased in Canada for one-fifth the U.S. price. The Japanese drugmaker Astellas, which made $1 billion in profits in 2021, has raised the price of this drug by more than 75 percent to over $166,000 per year. How many prostate cancer patients will die because they cannot afford this unacceptable price? As the chairman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I will do everything I can to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and make sure that drugs that are developed with U.S. taxpayer money are sold here at a reasonable price.”