J&J vows "competitive" HCV pricing

Johnson & Johnson CFO Dominic Caruso said the company intends to "remain competitive in the HCV category" following the approval of Harvoni ledipasvir/ sofosbuvir from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), suggesting the pharma may be considering reducing the price of its Olysio simeprevir.

J&J (NYSE:JNJ) reported $2 billion in worldwide sales of simeprevir during the first three quarters of 2014. During J&J's third quarter earnings call on Tuesday morning, Caruso acknowledged that the company will see "a reduction in [simeprevir's] contribution" to earnings in 2015, but also noted that the company will continue to invest in HCV. J&J has submitted an sNDA to FDA to expand the label of the HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor to include a combination with Sovaldi sofosbuvir, Gilead's nucleotide analog HCV NS5B polymerase inhibitor. FDA approved Harvoni, which combines Sovaldi with the HCV NS5A protein inhibitor ledipasvir, to treat HCV genotype 1 on Oct. 10 (see BioCentury Extra, Oct. 10). ...