Hepatitis Drug Prices Fall So Low, No Exclusives Needed

[can-do-man]

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) and AbbVie Inc. (ABBV), engaged in a price war over hepatitis C drugs, are offering such substantial discounts that one benefit manager has decided to cover both medicines rather than get a lower price for one through an exclusive deal.

A “substantial reduction” in the price for Gilead’s Harvoni and AbbVie’s competing Viekira Pak made it possible to give both drugs preferred status and still save more money than through an exclusive deal, said Prime Therapeutics LLC. Prime, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, covers 25 million patients in non-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans for people in 23 states.

“We are receiving market-leading rates from both companies,” said Peter Wickersham, a senior vice president in charge of specialty drugs for Prime, in a telephone interview. “Neither company wanted to be left off the formulary.”

Wickersham said in his 20 years in the industry he had never seen prices for a brand-name drug category plummet so quickly after a competing drug was introduced.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-12/prime-covers-both-gilead-and-abbvie-liver-drugs-as-prices-plunge.html

[Rbeth]

Rats! There goes my retirement ;-) K I D D I N G!!

This is the best news ever.!! Didn't see this on 1/12
Really awesome... Music to our ears...people will treat... Yes!
Thanks for post

[Dee1956]

Great news! Thank you so much for sharing this info. I am so happy for everyone who can now be treated

[JimmyMose]

What the ‘Shocking’ Gilead Discounts on its Hepatitis C Drugs Will Mean
By  ED SILVERMAN, Feb 4, 2015.

http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2015/02/04/what-the-shocking-gilead-discounts-on-its-hepatitis-c-drugs-will-mean/
Excerpts
"We can only imagine how far AbbVie has to go on price with their pack of pills to have any [market] share. Depending on patient mix, we believe Harvoni will net about $45,000 per patient in 2015 and Sovaldi will net about $54,000… We think investors would suffer the discount happily if assure of price stability beyond 2015, but the bigger concern will be around how much further price can go” as other drug makers enter the market."

"And he notes that, “so far, Gilead appears to have an upper hand [with] a 75% to 80% share” of the market. “The key, in our view, is whether this level of discounting leads to broad access by newly diagnosed patients, especially in 2016 and beyond. Iit would appear that it should but it remains to be seen.”

More interesting facts: Liang also notes that, according to Gilead, negotiations have been completed with payers and pharmacy benefit managers representing about 60% of covered lives. Of these, about 80% have access to Harvoni – 75% exclusively and the remaining 25% with the option for either Harvoni or Viekira Pak. And Gilead believes between 200,000 and 250,000 U.S. patients can be treated this year."

[hepc4Sandi]

Thank goodness! Let's put the patients first! What a concept!

[patra_]

Now, if that will just spread to the other companies.  Maybe Express Script , etc, who have those exclusive contracts can renegotiate so they can offer the same coverage.  This COULD be a goos thing for patients, as well as Ins Cos.