First Launch Of Protease Inhibitor Raises Cost Concerns

18 December 1995

There seems little doubt that Hoffmann-La Roche's Invirase (saquinavir), which became the first protease inhibitor to be approved for treating HIV infection on December 7 (Marketletter December 11) and has since been launched onto the market in the USA, will offer a real improvement in therapy. However, concerns have already been raised over the cost of the drug.

Roche has said that the wholesale price of the product will be about $5,800 a year, but was not able to offer a retail price. Nevertheless, this would price it at about three times existing AIDS drugs, according to Martin Delaney of the AIDS treatment group Project Inform. He noted that as the drug must be used in combination with nucleoside analogs "the cost of therapy is going to go up dramatically."

A Roche spokesman agreed that the drug is a "really expensive product," but noted that the company is setting up a program to help patients get insurance coverage for Invirase, and to make it available to the uninsured.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free.  A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Login to your account

Become a subscriber

 

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now
  • Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
  • Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
  • Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
  • Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
  • Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK



Companies featured in this story

More ones to watch >


Today's issue

Company Spotlight