4
Sep
2018
Tag: drug pricing
20
Aug
2018
Bionest
Drug Pricing and Pharma
In September 2015, Martin Shkreli, then CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, sparked widespread outrage in the United States when the company raised prices on an off-patent treatment for toxoplasmosis, Daraprim, by over 5,000%, just one month after Turing acquired the drug. That action catapulted the medicine’s price from $13.50 to $750 per pill. But journalists found...
23
Jul
2018
Bionest
Analysts’ Predictions on Top 10 Best Selling Drugs in 2024 — And Our Take
Market analyst firm Evaluate released their annual report, “EvaluatePharma World Preview 2018: Outlook to 2024,” last month. The report predicts that worldwide prescription drug sales will grow to over $1.2 trillion over the next six years. Novartis is projected to be 2024’s leading prescription drug company with $53.2 billion in overall sales, followed by Pfizer...
4
Jun
2018
Bionest
Vertex Under Fire
The Institute for Clinical & Economic Review (ICER) recently ruled that all three of Vertex’s cystic fibrosis (CF) drugs are considerably overpriced. ICER analyzed the prices for Kalydeco, Orkambi, and new treatment Symdeko based on a metric called “quality-adjusted life year,” which factors in both the quantity and the quality of life lived. While ICER...
21
Nov
2017
Bionest
Giving Thanks in IO
The immuno-oncology (IO) field has a lot to be thankful for as the year comes to a close. Not only are PD-1/PDL-1 inhibitors being rapidly approved, their use is being extended into new indications and tumor types well beyond what people expected. From melanoma and lung cancer to bladder, gastric and liver cancer, drugs...
16
Aug
2017
Bionest
Recent Developments in IO – Our Take on a Couple of Key Events
On July 27, AstraZeneca (AZ) disappointed their investors and many immuno-oncology watchers with the results of their MYSTIC trial combining two immunotherapies targeting PD-L1 (durvalumab/Imfinzi) and CTLA-4 (tremelimumab) in newly diagnosed Stage-IV lung cancer patients. The AZ combination therapy failed to show a benefit compared to chemotherapy in a primary endpoint of “Progression-free Survival (PFS).”...
26
Jul
2017
Bionest
CAR-T Nears the Marketplace, with Unanimous Approval Recommendation – but Challenges Remain
On July 12, Novartis’ CAR-T therapy, CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel), received a unanimous recommendation for approval from the reviewing U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s advisory panel for use in the treatment of children and young adults with advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The FDA is now expected to make its final decision by October 3. CTL019...
17
Jul
2017
Bionest
Gene Therapy: Coming of Age Perhaps, but Who Will Pay?
New technologies tend to go through cycles of interest and attention. Initial excitement about the potential of a technological advance too often builds to over-blown hype, followed by a quick reversal of interest in the aftermath of a big disappointment. But if continued research later produces truly encouraging results, interest can build again as time...
6
Jun
2017
Bionest
Roche Gains Important MS Approval — and Takes Unprecedented Pricing Steps
On March 29, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Roche’s Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for the treatment of either relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), or primary progressive MS (PPMS). The approval was particularly noteworthy as Ocrevus is the first therapeutic approved for the treatment of PPMS, a form of the disease that accounts for 10-15% of MS...
31
May
2017