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[Biowatch]

Biogen, Bayer MS Drugs Aren’t Cost Effective, Study Says

Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) and Bayer AG (BAYN) would have to cut the price of their multiple sclerosis drugs by at least two-thirds in the U.S. to make them cost effective at boosting quality of life, a study found.

Disease-modifying drugs for MS like Avonex from Weston, Massachusetts-based Biogen, and Betaseron, sold by Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer, are at least eight times costlier than what researchers consider reasonable when putting a price on quality- of-life improvement, according to the study published today in the journal Neurology. The study also found that prescribing the drugs in earlier stages of MS improved cost effectiveness...

..."Simply reducing the price of these drugs to a level for what they’re sold in the U.K. and Europe will bring the number to a much more acceptable level,” Katia Noyes, lead author of the study and chief of the Division of Health Policy and Outcomes Research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York, said today in a telephone interview.

QALY Measure

Researchers generally accept $100,000 per quality-adjusted life year, or QALY, as a “reasonable” threshold, Noyes said. The metric incorporates the effect of treatment on duration and quality of life. For the MS drugs examined in the study, the measure exceeded $800,000 per QALY.

In addition to Biogen and Bayer’s medicines, the researchers looked at Copaxone, which is sold by Petah Tikva, Israel-based Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), and Rebif, from Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA. (MRK)

The study also found prescribing medicines at earlier stages of the disease improved their cost effectiveness...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/biogen-bayer-ms-drugs-aren-t-cost-effective-in-u-s-study-says.html

K. Noyes, A. Bajorska, A. Chappel, S.R. Schwid, L.R. Mehta, B. Weinstock-Guttman, R.G. Holloway, and A.W. Dick
Cost-effectiveness of disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis: A population-based study
Neurology;77:355

http://www.neurology.org/content/future/77/4 (July 26, 2011)
http://www.neurology.org/