4th UPDATE: Tesco, Sainsbury To Match Asda On Private Cancer Drugs Pricing
May 20 2010 - 1:02PM
Dow Jones News
U.K. supermarket groups Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN ) and J Sainsbury PLC
(SBRY.LN) said Thursday they will match rival Asda Group Ltd. on
retail pricing for cancer drugs after the Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
(WMT) chain said it will sell treatments on private prescription at
cost price.
Asda--the second-largest supermarket retailer in the U.K. by
sales and market share behind Tesco--said the not-for-profit price
would be effective in its stores from May 24, the same day as
Tesco's and Sainsbury's offers start.
Asda's move, which it claims will save patients thousands of
pounds per treatment, puts pressure on other supermarkets and
pharmacies to match the offer. William Morrison Supermarkets PLC
(MRW.LN) had no immediate comment.
Lung cancer drug Iressa will be sold at a price of GBP2,167.71
for 30 tablets, compared with GBP2,601.2, GBP3,251.57 and
GBP3,253.56 at high-street pharmacy rival Lloyds, Alliance Boots
PLC's high-street peer Boots Group PLC and health and beauty
retailer Superdrug respectively, the group said.
Kidney cancer drug Afinitor will be priced at GBP2,250.00 at
Asda, a GBP750 and GBP450.03 reduction on prices at Sainsbury's and
Tesco respectively, it said.
Leukaemia drugs Glivec and Tasigna, kidney and liver cancer drug
Nexavar, pancreatic and lung cancer drug Tarceva and stomach tumour
drug Sutent will also be made available by Asda at cost price.
Asda also said it is working with suppliers to negotiate further
discounts on the trade price of privately-prescribed cancer drugs,
with any savings passed directly on to customers.
Asda said research showed pharmacies are marking up the cost of
the drugs on private prescriptions by up to 76%, with 63% of
consumers unaware that private prescription prices vary between
them.
"Cancer is the U.K.'s second biggest killer, affecting nearly
300,000 people per year and for many the cost of treatment is well
above what they can afford," Asda said in a statement.
In the U.K., as well as being eligible for price mark-ups by
retailers, some cancer drugs are considered too costly to be
available on the state-run National Health Service, Asda said. In
addition, it said the annual spend per cancer patient by primary
care trusts in the U.K. varies according to location.
In March, Asda announced it would sell in vitro fertilization
medication on private prescription, also at cost price, prompting a
price match offer from Sainsbury's.
-By Simon Zekaria, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842-9410;
simon.zekaria@dowjones.com
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