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Post by harryx1 on May 21, 2015 8:31:55 GMT -5
www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2015/05/20/do-rd-costs-matter-when-it-comes-to-drug-pricing/"Innovation, however, doesn’t guarantee pricing. MannKind’s inhaled insulin product, Afrezza, co-marketed with Sanofi , provides an alternative to delivering insulin by injection. However, the latter method of delivery is well established. Afrezza is a unique product, but unless it shows demonstrable advantages over existing methods for delivering insulin, the pricing it can command is questionable. Again, it is a question of value. Are there added health benefits that can be realized by inhaling insulin? If not, then premium pricing over existing therapy will be difficult to justify."
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Post by Chris-C on May 21, 2015 12:38:55 GMT -5
www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2015/05/20/do-rd-costs-matter-when-it-comes-to-drug-pricing/"Innovation, however, doesn’t guarantee pricing. MannKind’s inhaled insulin product, Afrezza, co-marketed with Sanofi , provides an alternative to delivering insulin by injection. However, the latter method of delivery is well established. Afrezza is a unique product, but unless it shows demonstrable advantages over existing methods for delivering insulin, the pricing it can command is questionable. Again, it is a question of value. Are there added health benefits that can be realized by inhaling insulin? If not, then premium pricing over existing therapy will be difficult to justify." It seems to me that if the people so focused on cost could truly understand value, the stock would be through the roof. Are quality of life benefits brought by convenience, reduced fear of hypoglycemia, and lower risk of adverse consequences from injections (not to mention the discomfort) considered health benefits? Of course they are, in the same way that lower A1c values are. But no worry. Even bean counters stuck on the holy grail A1c as an outcome measure of benefit will be impressed. The non-inferiority study design of last year's trials was said to understate Afrezza's value by not illustrating its effect in containing extreme glycemic excursions in both directions by closely mimicking the pharmacokinetic profile of a normal pancreas. Some discussion after the trials discussion suggested that A1c values would be poor measures of the benefits of the drug because of the time needed for cumulative "in range" values to be reflected in that glucose measure. Type 1's reporting in social media, however, are showing significant A1c declines after several weeks of use. Perhaps the difference here is the individualized or tailored use of the drug delivery system versus the one size fits all protocol that was required in the trial. I would welcome other perspectives. Chris C |
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