UCB's Cimzia could be cheaper than rival drugs
BARCELONA, June 14 (Reuters) - UCB SA's UCBBt.BR experimental arthritis treatment Cimzia could be priced at a discount to rivals, since the drug has lower production costs, a key scientific investigator on the product said on Thursday.
Edward Keystone, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, who presented the latest data on Cimzia at the annual European Congress of Rheumatology, said price was one of several factors that could help Cimzia in a competitive marketplace.
The Belgian company's head of inflammation operations, Olav Hellebo, acknowledged in an interview UCB had more flexibility on pricing than rivals but said no final decision had been made on how much to charge.
Unlike other biotech arthritis drugs blocking an inflammatory protein called tumour necrosis factor, or TNF, Cimzia is cultured in E.coli rather than mammalian cells -- a simpler method of manufacture.
"It's more efficient, more effective in production, so theoretically it could be more cost-effective, meaning the cost could come down. Therefore it could be cheaper," Keystone told reporters.
Clinical trial results show Cimzia has comparable efficacy to other TNF blockers -- but it will not get to market before 2008, 10 years after the launch of the first drug in the class.
That has prompted increasing speculation among medical experts and financial analysts that UCB may discount its drug to win users.
Hellebo said he and his colleagues were discussing the issue and looking at other products in the market but a final decision would only be taken just before launch.
"We have strategic flexibility on pricing, probably more than others have at this point in their life cycles," he told Reuters.
Cimzia will compete against three existing anti-TNF drugs -- Amgen's Enbrel, Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) Remicade and Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s (ABT.N) Humira -- that can cost $10,000 to $30,000 per patient a year. It will be entering a multibillion dollar-a-year market, but many analysts think its similar profile to established medicines means it may win only a 5 or 10 percent market share.
Hellebo declined to comment on these forecasts but argued Cimzia had several unique features to win over patients and doctors.
These include a less frequent dosing regimen of just one injection every two or four weeks, as well as the fact the drug does not cross the placenta barrier or get into breast milk, making it a good choice for women of child-bearing age.
Keystone said he was also encouraged by the fact patients in clinical trials achieved maximum benefits from the drug after 16 weeks -- significantly earlier than with rival products.
"If you can achieve the best you are going to be, which means low disease activity states, at four months instead of six to eight months, then I think that is a substantial improvement," he said.
((Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Sue Thomas; email: ben.hirschler@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: ben.hirschler.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 7771 575 829)) Keywords: ARTHRITIS UCB/PRICING
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