Posts tagged ‘TMPRSS2:ERG gene’

Abiraterone price may be discounted 40% for UK NICE approval

March 3rd, 2012

Daedalus

At the recent European Association of Urology (EAU) Annual Congress in Paris, one of the rumours was that the price of abiraterone (Zytiga) has been discounted 40% to the UK National Health Service (NHS) in order to obtain reimbursement approval from the National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence (NICE).

As Sally notes in her video report from EAU 2012, if true, this has important commercial implications in the advanced prostate cancer market and potential new entrants such as MDV3100.

When looking at the prostate cancer competitive landscape and a market entry strategy, one of the issues to consider is reimbursement.

Regulatory approval to market a drug in Europe does not automatically mean it will be reimbursed or paid for by healthcare providers. Abiraterone is a good example of this.

Another driver of price and reimbursement will be the cumulative cost of treatment for advanced prostate cancer. This is set to increase dramatically as new products such as MDV3100 and Alpharadin come to market, and their use moves from post-chemotherapy to the pre-chemotherapy setting.

You can gain more insights on some of the future challenges by watching Sally’s excellent conference coverage video from EAU 2012:

There is also more information from EAU 2012 on Biotech Strategy Blog e.g. on Bayer’s Expanded Access Program for Alpharadin and an update on Millennium’s orteronel (TAK-700), a competitor to abiraterone.

Sally’s next conference video will be from the forthcoming American Assocation for Cancer Research (AACR) 2012 annual meeting that takes in place Chicago from March 31 – April 4. We hope to see you there.

Prostate Cancer Market Research

August 8th, 2011

Daedalus

Do you have a need to understand the fast moving prostate cancer market and its competitive dynamics? If so, please contact us as we offer a number of services in support of prostate cancer marketing and new products. The team at Icarus Consultants has in-depth knowledge of this therapeutic area.

Last week, Pieter Droppert wrote on Biotech Strategy Blog about what the impact of the European approval for abiraterone acetate (Zytiga®) may be on cabazitaxel (Jevtana®) sales.

Both are indicated in the post-docetaxel setting. Will physicians prescribe a convenient pill (abiraterone) as opposed to using another line of chemo (cabazitaxel)? You can read Pieter’s thoughts on Biotech Strategy Blog.

Meanwhile on Pharma Strategy Blog, Sally Church wrote an update on pharma social media. She reviewed the Zytiga healthcare professionals website and the many features that she liked.

In another post last week, Sally discussed some of the issues surrounding the drop in share price for Dendreon and possible reasons for poor sipuleucel-T (Provenge®) sales. She also discussed new research that shows the TMPRSS2:ERG gene may be a more useful marker than PSA in prostate cancer. You can read more on Pharma Strategy Blog.

Want to understand the prostate cancer market? Contact us.