New Novartis Heart-Failure Drug Should Cost 17% Less, Research Group Says
September 11 2015 - 12:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Peter Loftus
Novartis AG's new heart-failure treatment should cost about 17%
less than what Novartis is charging for it in the U.S. because
expected wide use of the drug will strain health-care budgets, a
nonprofit research group said Friday.
Entresto's U.S. list price, also known as its wholesale
acquisition cost, is $12.50 a day, or about $4,560 a year per
patient. Some analysts have estimated the drug could eventually
generate more than $6 billion in annual global sales.
The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review
issued a report saying that Entresto's list price fairly reflects
the clinical benefit it provides over older treatments for heart
failure. But ICER also predicts that nearly two million U.S.
patients could be prescribed the drug in its first five years on
the market, which would create "a budget impact so high that
excessive cost burdens would be placed on the overall health care
system."
To curb that budget strain, ICER says Entresto should cost about
$3,780 a year, or 17% less than the list price.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Entresto in July.
A clinical trial showed it reduced the risk of death and
hospitalization from heart failure versus another drug, enalapril.
Side effects included low blood pressure and kidney impairment.
A Novartis spokesman declined immediate comment.
Novartis previously has said Entresto's price was in line with
other new cardiovascular therapies. The company has said it is open
to contracts with insurers and other health payers to link the
drug's price to outcomes such as whether it reduces the rate of
heart-failure hospitalizations among patients who take it.
ICER recently expanded its research into the cost-effectiveness
of new drugs thanks to a $5.2 million grant from the Laura and John
Arnold Foundation. ICER's reports have been drawing increasing
attention. Some U.S. drug-plan managers credited the nonprofit last
year with helping them secure big discounts on expensive new
hepatitis C drugs, after ICER concluded the therapies would only be
cost-effective at half their price.
Earlier this month, ICER said a new class of
cholesterol-lowering injections should cost about 85% less than
what is charged per patient for the treatments in the U.S., based
on their clinical benefits.
Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 11, 2015 12:11 ET (16:11 GMT)
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