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Lockerbie Bomber Kept Alive by Pricey Wonder Drug

Hormone-based cancer drug ironically developed in UK

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 19, 2011 8:09 AM CDT

(Newser) – How is Abdel Basset al-Megrahi still breathing? UK doctors gave the convicted Lockerbie bomber just three months to live when he was released two years ago, but Libyan doctors have kept him alive with a brand-new hormone-based cancer drug called Abiraterone, a medic in Tripoli tells the Daily Telegraph. Abiraterone isn’t even available yet in the UK where it was developed, but it’s been hugely successful in clinical trials.

It’s also extraordinarily expensive. Johnson & Johnson is planning to market the drug as Zytiga and charge an estimated $5,000 a month for it. “Medics have used it to prolong his life,” a source in the Tripoli Medical Center said. “He remains extremely ill, and very weak, but believes that the blessing of his survival will help him to clear his name.” He added that thanks to the fighting in Libya, there won’t be any celebrations commemorating tomorrow’s anniversary of Megrahi’s release.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the man convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, is wheeled through the international hospital in Tripoli, Libya, Sept. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid Al Fergany, File)

This image from Libya's state TV shows convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, foreground left, attending a pro-government rally in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, July 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Libya State TV)

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Lockerbie Bomber Kept Alive by Pricey Wonder Drug

Hormone-based cancer drug ironically developed in UK

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cancer • Libya • Johnson and Johnson • Lockerbie • abiraterone • cancer drug • Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi • cancer drugs • Zytiga

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