BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

GlaxoSmithKline, Novo Nordisk sales and marketing update

January 4, 2016 8:00 AM UTC

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a U.S.-based non-profit that evaluates the effectiveness and value of drugs and medical services, said the annual price of asthma drug Nucala mepolizumab from GlaxoSmithKline should be reduced 63-76% to a list price of $7,787-$12,116 from the current list price of $32,500 based on variable cost-effectiveness thresholds. ICER based the lower value-based price on a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of $100,000, and the higher price on a QALY of $150,000.

The institute said there was “moderate certainty” that adding Nucala to inhaled corticosteroids or other standard of care treatments led to comparable or better health benefits, but said Nucala's long-term benefit has not yet been demonstrated due to the small size and short duration of pivotal trials of the drug and potential harm from immune modulation. In November, FDA approved the humanized IgG mAb against IL-5 as an add-on maintenance treatment for severe asthma with eosinophilic inflammation in patients aged 12 and older (see BioCentury, Nov. 16, 2015). ...