Social Media Suggests An MS Dogfight Between Biogen And Novartis

Over the past month, surveying the track record for the newly launched Tecfidera multiple sclerosis pill has become a closely watched exercise on Wall Street. Each week, analysts pore over prescription data to gauge the extent to which the drug, which is sold by Biogen Idec, is capturing market share and  how many billions of dollars in sales may be generated this year (back story). Last week, for instance Tecfidera prescriptions rose 27 percent, a substantial increase, although less than the 37 percent gain noticed during the previous week. Not surprisingly, some of this reflects patients who are switching from older MS drugs that are injectables, such as Copaxone and Avonex, which is also sold by Biogen. A key issue, however, is the emerging horse race between Biogen (BIIB) and Novartis (NVS), which sells the rival Gilenya pill that was approved in September 2010 and generated $1.2 billion in sales last year. Last year, though, a spate of bad publicity about heart risks emerged after a few patient deaths and Novartis is keen on fending off Biogen (back story). So, the drugmaker recently began pushing an aggressive advertising campaign aimed at younger patients and also began sponsoring lunches at restaurants around the country where patients and caregivers can learn more about its pill. The pricing, by the way, is similar (see this and this). The average wholesale price for Tecfidera is $54,900, compared with $58,000 for Gilenya....Read more
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs