I just thought of another factor. The S/L combo may be prescribed for only 8 weeks for some people so even if priced higher per pill it could remain cost competitive that way.
Isiscat2011 said
Sep 13, 2014
Very interesting, Matt. Another factor is that some combos are more effective than others for sub-genotypes. For example, I seem to recall that both the BMS combo and the ABBVie combo are more effective for 1bs than 1as. (The BMS combo is also scheduled for approval in December.)
So, the S/L combo could still dominate in the 1a population, even at a higher price, assuming docs are prescribing based on these finely nuanced sub-type variables. I'm concerned, however, that there might not be enough attention paid to individual needs such as sub-types, level of fibrosis, etc, and that cost will become the primary deciding factor both for the types of DAAs used and the duration of tx.
There are predictions that it will take about 3 years to treat the known HCV population, and 20 years to treat the entire HCV population, including those who have not yet been tested for the virus.
Matt Chris said
Sep 13, 2014
Gilead has a least two things to consider regarding there pricing strategy.
#1- What Abbvie's price will be on there all oral treatment in Dec.2014 (Abbvie has the benefit of seeing how Sovaldi was receive by the Insurance and Medical institutions.) If they price higher that Abbvie then they will lose their lead in the HepC cure race.
#2- What will be the price difference between Sovaldi and the new combo SOL & LDV because most of the study trials for SOL & LDV have been for GT1. So Sovaldi will still have a place in the market Also what Gilead has to factor is, if they lower the price of Sovaldi to low then the other Drug companies that piggyback on Sovaldi like J&J and BMS could undercut the price of the new Gilead combo (SOL & LDV)
Its a real possibility that the new combo will be just 10% or 20% higher than Sovaldi that way they could compete with both Abbvie and any off label combo. Also Gilead could lower the price of Sovaldi and then have the S/L combo slightly higher but still less that the $1,000 price tag.
The $1,000 a pill is a Psychological barrier of greed that Gilead has created so they need to remove it and show public opinion that they care. (Just a thought)
matt
Isiscat2011 said
Sep 12, 2014
Good bye Olysio. I wonder what the ABBVie combo will cost. Assuming the Gilead combo is 95K I'm going to guess 75K for the ABBVie.
OldenSlow said
Sep 12, 2014
For what it's worth...
"Gregg Alton, Gilead's executive vice president of corporate and medical affairs, declined to give an exact price for the new medicine, the first all-oral treatment for the virus which is expected to launch next month.
The total cost of the current treatment is $95,000, which includes Sovaldi and two older medicines, ribavirin and interferon, according to Gilead. The price of the new drug would be based on that cost, Alton said in an interview.
"We are going to price this fixed-dose regimen based on those costs," Alton said. "We do plan on launching a better product without having a significant premium."
I just thought of another factor.
The S/L combo may be prescribed for only 8 weeks for some people so even if priced higher per pill it could remain cost competitive that way.
Very interesting, Matt. Another factor is that some combos are more effective than others for sub-genotypes. For example, I seem to recall that both the BMS combo and the ABBVie combo are more effective for 1bs than 1as. (The BMS combo is also scheduled for approval in December.)
So, the S/L combo could still dominate in the 1a population, even at a higher price, assuming docs are prescribing based on these finely nuanced sub-type variables. I'm concerned, however, that there might not be enough attention paid to individual needs such as sub-types, level of fibrosis, etc, and that cost will become the primary deciding factor both for the types of DAAs used and the duration of tx.
There are predictions that it will take about 3 years to treat the known HCV population, and 20 years to treat the entire HCV population, including those who have not yet been tested for the virus.
Gilead has a least two things to consider regarding there pricing strategy.
#1- What Abbvie's price will be on there all oral treatment in Dec.2014 (Abbvie has the benefit of seeing how Sovaldi was receive by the Insurance and Medical institutions.) If they price higher that Abbvie then they will lose their lead in the HepC cure race.
#2- What will be the price difference between Sovaldi and the new combo SOL & LDV because most of the study trials for SOL & LDV have been for GT1. So Sovaldi will still have a place in the market Also what Gilead has to factor is, if they lower the price of Sovaldi to low then the other Drug companies that piggyback on Sovaldi like J&J and BMS could undercut the price of the new Gilead combo (SOL & LDV)
Its a real possibility that the new combo will be just 10% or 20% higher than Sovaldi that way they could compete with both Abbvie and any off label combo. Also Gilead could lower the price of Sovaldi and then have the S/L combo slightly higher but still less that the $1,000 price tag.
The $1,000 a pill is a Psychological barrier of greed that Gilead has created so they need to remove it and show public opinion that they care. (Just a thought)
matt
Good bye Olysio. I wonder what the ABBVie combo will cost. Assuming the Gilead combo is 95K I'm going to guess 75K for the ABBVie.
For what it's worth...
"Gregg Alton, Gilead's executive vice president of corporate and medical affairs, declined to give an exact price for the new medicine, the first all-oral treatment for the virus which is expected to launch next month.
The total cost of the current treatment is $95,000, which includes Sovaldi and two older medicines, ribavirin and interferon, according to Gilead. The price of the new drug would be based on that cost, Alton said in an interview.
"We are going to price this fixed-dose regimen based on those costs," Alton said. "We do plan on launching a better product without having a significant premium."
Full article:
http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2014/sep/12/gilead-to-raise-price-for-new-hepatitis-c-drug-above-84000/