LS. good question
My wife prescribes a lot of Sevelamer (Renvela® or Renagel®) largely because its what the issuers will cover . Her patients hate the drug and most are nowhere near serum pho goal .
Those who absolutely refuse Sevelamer , she will go thru the prior authorization hurdles for them to get Fosrenol ( which I believe costs more ) .
If a brand pho binder that patients will take ...1 small pill with meals , swallowed , is approved and the copay is affordable , the thinking is that more Nephrologists and patients will push for it.
The current SOC re pho binders is a failure . 85% of the roughly 400,000 US dialysis patients on these SOC binders are nowhere near pho goal because of pill burden and taste .
Note ...the existing Fosrenol generic is CHEWED ( or in powder form ) Patients hate the taste. The OLC bio equivalent is SWALLOWED .
I don't have a clear idea on pricing , rebates etc except they need to make the copay affordable ...something ARDX did not do with their Xphazoh.
But first they need their final " tolerability " trial to succeed.
Kiwi
