FRANCE BARS IMIGRAN REIMBURSEMENT?

Glaxo and the French health authorities have failed to agree a price for the UK group's antimigraine drug Imigran (sumatriptan). The product will not be reimbursed except for the one restricted indication of facial vascular algesia, it has been reported in the French newspaper Les Echos.

However, a spokesman for Glaxo's parent company in the UK said that there had been no communication from the French health authorities on this matter. Negotiations have been underway now for four years, and Glaxo France management has said that talks are to continue. Glaxo France has been in possession of medical marketing approval since March 1993 and could, in principle, market sumatriptan under two brand names to distinguish the different indications.

On the assumption that the French press reports are accurate in that reimbursement has been refused at the price level the company requires, Glaxo would still be able to fix its own price in the case of the migraine indication, as is the case for all non-reimbursable products, and could sell the drug at a price close to those obtainable elsewhere in Europe. In the UK, for example, the current price of L300 ($456) corresponds to the annual cost of treatment per person.