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Return to: PLEGRIDY (pegylated interferon beta-1a) |
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#Post#: 519-------------------------------------------------- |
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Plegridy to cost $62,036/year--same as Avonex |
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By: agate Date: October 16, 2014, 8:02 pm |
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Excerpted from the Boston Globe, October 4, 2014: |
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[quote]Biogen�s new MS drug to cost $62,036 a year |
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By Robert Weisman | GLOBE STAFF |
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Cambridge biotech Biogen Idec Inc. said Friday it will charge |
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$62,036 per patient for a year�s treatment with its newly |
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approved multiple sclerosis drug Plegridy. |
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The list price of Plegridy, a new type of injectable drug that |
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treats adults with the most common form of MS, is identical to |
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that of Biogen Idec�s original injectable, Avonex, which is |
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still on the market. |
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Plegridy, a longer-lasting drug for patients with |
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relapsing-remitting MS, was approved by the Food and Drug |
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Administration on Aug. 15 for US sale. Biogen Idec disclosed the |
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price Friday before releasing the drug to distributors. |
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�We�re pricing for the innovation,� said Biogen Idec spokeswoman |
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Kate Niazi-Sai. �But we�re also pricing to make sure patients |
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have access to it and the system can support it. That�s a |
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balance, and that�s what we�re trying to do here.� |
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Drug pricing has become a hot button issue in an era of rising |
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health costs. |
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... |
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Biogen Idec�s own pill to treat MS, called Tecfidera, costs |
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$60,121 a year. |
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Plegridy, the latest addition to Biogen Idec�s portfolio of MS |
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medicines, also has been approved by the European Commission for |
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sale in 28 countries across the Atlantic. |
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... |
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Plegridy has the same active ingredient, interferon beta, as |
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Avonex. But the company attached a polymer called polyethylene |
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glycol, or peg, to Plegridy that increases the exposure of the |
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drug, allowing patients to take doses less frequently. While |
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Avonex has to be injected into the muscle once a week, Plegridy |
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can be taken by injection every two weeks, administered under |
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the skin with an auto-injector. |
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Biogen Idec hopes to transition many patients over time from |
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Avonex and other first-generation interferons, some of which |
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have to be injected three times a week, to the longer-lasting |
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drug Plegridy. But the company has no plans to discontinue the |
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sale of Avonex.[/quote] |
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The entire article can be seen here |
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/10/03/biogen-idec-prices-new-multiple-… |
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