The Cost Of Multiple Sclerosis Meds Keeps On Rising
5 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // March 22nd, 2011 // 7:28 am
What goes up….will keep going up? Ever since Novartis introduced the first pill to treat multiple sclerosis last year, prices for MS meds have jumped as much as 39 percent. Why? Other drugmakers are charging more for their older treatments in order to maintain revenue in the face of eroding unit sales, Bloomberg News writes.
Novartis charges $48,000 for its new Gilenya pill, which prompted Teva Pharmaceutical to raise the price of its Copaxone injectable by 39 percent to $42,300 a year since January 2010. And the cost of MS drugs, which patients generally take for life, is now on par with many cancer meds. Consequently, patients without insurance or who do not qualify for assistance programs may be out of luck.
Biogen’s Tysabri costs about $3,566 a month, or $42,788 a year, while the price of its Avonex treatment is $37,544, which rose 6 percent in December, although Avonex prescriptions fell 4 percent since Gilenya was launched, according to RBC Capital Markets. Meanwhile, the wholesale price for Bayer’s Betaseron is $37,294 a year and the wholesale cost of Rebif from Merck KGgA is $36,825, Bloomberg points out.
But prices may rise more, according to Leerink Swann analysts, who wrote in a recent investor note that a doctor who was interviewed reporting being “unaware of the levels at which point the insurers may start to push back and sees room for additional increases.” Not surprisingly, patients are upset, especially since injected or infused therapies can be difficult to use or complain of side effects.
“People are frustrated, hoping for medical treatment that will really help, and yet everything is just out of reach,” Kathleen Wilson of Eugene, Oregon, who founded MSWorld, a patient message board with more than 45,000 members, tells Bloomberg. “It’s just a crazy situation,” Brenda Lakatos- Shaffer, an MS patient who counsels Medicare beneficiaries for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, tells the news service. “Not only is having MS absolutely horrible, and you have the crazy side effects and quality of life with these medicines, but then you see the prices go up.”
industry insider
Having had a relative with MS, here is another reason for the price hike. Notwithstanding the labeled indication, every single MS patient in the US and/or their doctor will try any new drug for MS, whether on-label or off-label, no matter. Desperation and hence demand are high initially and every drug co. in the MS field will take advantage of this fact before it is finally determined, mostly by trial and error, which MS patient populations will or won’t benefit from the new treatment. Supply and demand, the oldest law of economics.
payor insider
Following industry insider’s comments about supply and demand. Having worked on the payor side for several years, I am beginning to realize that health insurance (gov’t, private, or otherwise) acts as an enabler to pharma’s money-addiction). Supply and demand indeed: do you think Gilenya would cost $48,000 per year if tomorrow there was NO health insurance and everyone paid out of pocket? It wouldn’t cost that much if Novartis actually wanted to sell any product. Only a small percentage of the population could afford that and eat at the same time.
Kim
Perhaps these manufacturers aren’t aware of the moves by health plans to increase patient cost sharing for specialty products in response to pressure from employers to “do something” about increasing costs in this area. I suspect discovering that your product is now facing 20%-30% co-insurance versus a $50-$70 fixed co-payment might have an impact on attitudes toward pricing.
Babs
Maybe this is cause the cure for MS is becoming more known & soon no one will have to take meds that more than likely aren’t helping
MegansMom
My daughter was diagnosed with MS in summer of 2010. She had progressive unrelenting symptoms, never having them leave. Then in Sept 2010she was diagnosed with CCSVI Type A, double candy wrapper twisted azygosand partially blocked L IJV. she got venoplasty and all MS symptoms resolved. Most immediately and some over the first 3 months. She now has no residual symptoms and MRIs reveal shirking lesions. Why would she need any DMD with awful side effects for thousands of dollars. If her symptoms return she will have another venogram and venoplasty (TPA). Early CCSVI treatment will end the need for DMDs!