Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group

By MATTHEW HERPER @matthewherper

JUNE 29, 2020

Remdesivir’s effectiveness against Covid-19 was established in a 1,063-patient study conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In results released in late April and later published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the drug reduced the median time it took a patient to recover from 15 days to 11 days with a 10 day course of treatment. The mortality rate in the remdesivir group was 7.1%, compared to 11.9% among those who received placebo, but the difference was not statistically significant. In another study in less sick patients, remdesivir led patients to improve more than placebo when it was given for five days, but not when it was given for 10.

Following the NIAID trial, in May, the Food and Drug Administration said it would allow emergency use of remdesivir to treat patients with Covid-19.

There will be room for outsiders to argue the price is too high — and too low. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a nonprofit which sets benchmarks for what it thinks are fair prices in the U.S., said that remdesivir would be cost-effective at as much as $5,080 per treatment course. But it also said that, given recent studies showing that dexamethasone, a cheap and ubiquitous steroid, could save lives among ventilated patients, a fair price might be as low as $2,520. That would mean that governments would be getting a good deal, but perhaps not private insurers in the U.S.

In another analysis as part of the same document, ICER said that if remdesivir does not save patients’ lives, the drug might be worth as little as $310. The group also said that, to recoup the manufacturers cost, the drug might need to cost anywhere from $10 to $1,600 per patient.

SOURCE

https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/29/gilead-announces-remdesivir-price-covid-19/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=0757c5b404-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_28_09_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-0757c5b404-150237109