The world 's most expensive prescription drug , Glybera , has been discontinued due to lack of demand . Glybera contains engineered viruses carrying copies of a gene to treat a rare metabolic disease , lipoprotein lipase deficiency , and costs $ 1 m for a one - time series of injections . Its approval by European drug regulators in September was seen as a milestone for gene therapy after a number of setbacks and safety issues . But its success has been " extremely limited " , according to manufacturer Roche , which will not renew the drug 's European marketing authorisation when it expires in October .
The world's most expensive prescription drug, Glybera, has been discontinued due to lack of demand. Glybera contains engineered viruses carrying copies of a gene to treat a rare metabolic disease, lipoprotein lipase deficiency, and costs $1m for a one-time set of injections. Its approval by European drug regulators in 2012 was seen as a milestone for gene therapy after a number of setbacks and safety issues. But its usage has been "extremely limited", according to manufacturer UniQure, which will not renew the drug's European marketing authorisation when it expires in October.