Betaferon Headache For French Social Security

German drugmaker Schering AG has given the French social security authorities something of a headache in the wake of Europe-wide approval for its multiple sclerosis treatment Betaferon (interferon beta-1b). The drug is now the only treatment for MS available in Europe and will cost the French health funds 85,000 French francs ($16,796) per patient annually, or 470.20 francs ($92.91) per injection.

Schering has been able to obtain a slightly higher price for the product in France, where its approval has just been ratified, than in other European Union countries, where it has been available for some months. The product will cost 7,053.10 francs per pack of 15 injections in France, compared with a range of between 5,700 francs and 6,200 francs elsewhere in the EU. These EU prices are themselves as much as 50% higher than in the USA, where the drug costs around $8,800 a year including free supply for a two-month period, according to a report by Lehman Bros, France, whose president, Xavier Guille des Buttes, said that when price negotiations were conducted in France, the exchange rates were different.

Observers of the French health care sector say it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the social security system to refuse reimbursement even if it acts on only one form of MS. There are an estimated 30,000-40,000 MS sufferers in France, but Schering calculates that only 6,000 of them will be eligible for Betaferon treatment.