Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

GILD/ABBV/ENTA—Great quote from ESRX (Express Scripts) CMO: Convenience won't = formulary coverage, all other things being equal.

Good job by the ESRX executive to take a forceful stand on this matter right out of the gate. There’s no reason why “convenience” should be highly valued by third-party payers when we’re talking about a 12-week (or, at worst, 24-week) regimen that cures a disease.

Moreover, I contend that qD dosing of DAA’s is not genuinely more convenient that BID dosing if ribavirin (a BID drug for tolerability reasons) is in the cocktail, and it remains to be seen whether ribavirin will, in fact, be needed in GILD’s and ABBV/ENTA’s all-oral regimens for GT1a and GT1b.