Price of Muscular Dystrophy drug may put it out of reach

If you’re a boy in the United State with Muscular Dystrophy, there’s a chance you’ve tried deflazacort, which isn’t sold in the United States but is available from an online store in the UK.

It’s not a cure for the disease, of course, but tests have shown it can improve muscle strength.

It’s not cheap — about $1,600 a year.

But now the victims of the disease have been told the online pharmacy will no longer sell the drug to people in the United States because Marathon Pharmaceutical got FDA approval yesterday to sell its version of the drug, called Emflaza.

Today, the Wall St. Journal reports the company has set the price.

$89,000 a year.

The company does not yet have committments from insurers that they will pay.