Follow the Money: Dupixent, the FDA, and the $7M Shortcut
While Dupixent got fast-tracked, TSW patients like me were left behind.
The sole purpose of the FDA is to protect the public – specifically, public health.
However, when the FDA’s paycheck depends on the very companies it’s supposed to regulate, protection goes out the window due to conflicts of interest.
In other words, the same organization that approves the drugs and is supposed to regulate them, receives money from the drug companies.
So if the organization meant to protect you is also paid by the ones you need protecting from… who do you turn to? And how can you trust them?
I’m not here to tell you what medication to take or what to do with your life. I respect everyone is on their own path, and I’m not here to judge.
I’m also not here to demonize medicine or big pharma, as they have their place. But I am here to shed some light on the truth.
I have been going through Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) for over a decade now – a condition that’s being completely ignored and swept under the rug by the FDA and medical industry while drugs like Dupixent get fast-tracked and funded.
The cost to get approved
Just in 2024, over $1.4 billion of the FDA’s funding came not from public health funds, but from pharmaceutical companies.
Let that sink in. And yes, you read that right – 1.4 BILLION DOLLARS.
Roughly 75% of the FDA’s drug approval budget comes from industry user fees.
For a drug like Dupixent, it’s closer to 90%.
This is done through the PDUFA – the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.
And it means that companies like Sanofi and Regeneron who make Dupixent – are paying the FDA to review their drugs.
This isn’t some “conspiracy theory.”
It’s the truth.
How fast tracking works
In 2016, Dupixent was granted Breakthrough Therapy status.
In 2017, it received Priority Review, which is essentially a shortcut through the usual FDA approval process to get the drug approved faster.
What that shortcut cost was:
- Biologic License Application: $3.1 million
- Priority Review Add-on: $2.8 million
- Annual Product/Program Fees: $500k+
That’s a total of $6-7 million – straight into the pockets of the FDA.
That investment paid off.
According to Regeneron, Dupixent was approved and launched within just a few months.
It’s now cleared for atopic dermatitis, asthma, nasal polyps, pediatric use, and also being used and marketed for Topical Steroid Withdrawal – even though the FDA has still failed to even acknowledge it as a condition. (Hmm… i wonder why? Surely not because of all the money they are getting from these companies, right?)
Unstudied, unprotected, and unseen
I never took Dupixent personally, although I know many in Topical Steroid Withdrawal that have or still are using it.
And while I respect everyone’s individual choice, my issue here is that the FDA is receiving so much money for drugs like Dupixent, yet have still not even acknowledged Topical Steroid Withdrawal. (Even though it has been acknowledged by several other countries). Not to mention the very obvious conflict of interest when they are receiving so much money from the companies they are supposed to regulate and oversee.
There are:
- No clinical trials focused on TSW
- No labeling warnings
- No FDA safety alerts
- No mention of TSW by the FDA at all – despite the drug being prescribed to many people going through it
Usually out of desperation due to such intense suffering caused by Topical Steroid Withdrawal, Dupixent is often prescribed off label, and presented as a lifeline. The first and new “steroid-free treatment for atopic dermatitis”, as they like to continuously repeat.
Although it does help some, for many it only worsens symptoms and even causes additional side effects such as eye issues.
And when we try to speak up? We’re basically told:
“That’s not in the data.”
Well, of course not…
We were never in the data to begin with.
Business Instead Of Oversight
When the FDA’s very survival depends on drug company money, it is no longer a public health agency.
The bigger the drug, the faster the review.
The faster the review, the sooner the profits.
Meanwhile, those of us suffering from conditions they don’t care to acknowledge…
We don’t get any research or help. And we certainly don’t get the protection, considering it was FDA that approved the very steroids that caused TSW in the first place.
🧭 So What Do We Do?
If you’re going through TSW or in a similar situation as us, all I can say is you are not alone.
And if you’re offered fast tracked drugs to heal from a problem drugs caused in the first place, you are absolutely not wrong to question it.
So next time you hear “FDA-approved,” I invite you to pause and ask yourself, and do some research to find out the real truth.
Ask:
- Who paid for that approval?
- Who was left out?
- Who profits – whether or not you’re harmed? Follow the money.
If you’re going through TSW or on the verge of potentially starting the journey, or you know and support someone who is – I. see you.
I’ve been here for 11 years, and I’m still fighting for my health and for the truth and justice… You are not alone. I’m right here by your side, even if you don’t personally know me.
I understand the hell that is TSW, and our pain deserves to be acknowledged, not buried for more profit and greed.
Feel free to share your experience in the comments, or reply to this post if you are going through TSW or know someone who is. I’d love to hear from you and would love to connect.
