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Genentech faces challenges on several fronts. Its mainstay colon-cancer drug, Avastin, has demonstrated effectiveness against several forms of cancer, and may be approved for use in lung-cancer patients as early as today. Yet growth in Avastin sales could begin to slow, in part, because cancer specialists
already use the drug against a number of different tumors, limiting its upside.
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Sales of several Genentech drugs, including Avastin, fell slightly short of analyst estimates in the third quarter. The major exception was Lucentis, Genentech's new drug for age-related macular degeneration, which posted sales of $153 million, well above expectations of roughly $30 million.
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Genentech also may face resistance to the price of its drugs. Using Avastin to treat lung cancer requires twice the dose needed in colon cancer, meaning the drug could cost patients or their insurers close to $100,000 a year.
Two weeks ago, Genentech competitor Amgen Inc. announced plans to cap out-of-pocket costs for a cancer drug to 5% of patients' income. Mr. Clark said Genentech was looking into the possibility of expanding a program that assists patients with the cost of drug co-payments, but said the company had no formal announcement yet.
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1 comment:
It's incredible that these companies are so transparent about their unfair pricing. Capping a drug at 5% of the patient's income is not a fair free-market practice. It's an indicator that the drug companies are not basing price on cost. And since they have monopolies on these drugs, they are given the right to base price on whatever they want.
Of course, the patent system itself is a part of this problem. India had the right idea - give methods patents, but not product patents. (That is, until 2005 when they changed their law to follow the US's suit.)
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