Biogen prices Tecfidera

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) set the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera dimethyl fumarate at $54,900 per year. Tecfidera, which will be available in pharmacies early next week, is the third oral MS drug approved by FDA; Aubagio teriflunomide has a WAC of $45,123 per year and Gilenya fingolimod has a WAC of about $60,423 per year. Biogen Idec will offer a co-payment program, in which eligible patients will pay $10 per month for Tecfidera. There are no income requirements for the program, but Medicare and Medicaid patients are ineligible. FDA approved Tecfidera on Wednesday (see BioCentury Extra, March 27).

FDA approved Aubagio from the Genzyme Corp. unit of Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY) last October and Gilenya from Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) in 2010. Tecfidera activates the NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, Aubagio is a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitor and Gilenya is a sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor agonist. ...