AHF Criticizes Tibotec Over Steep Price for Newest AIDS Drug, ... (vir or TMC 114) and began marketing that...)

AHF Criticizes Tibotec Over Steep Price for Newest AIDS Drug, Etravirine

Date:1/21/2008

vir, or TMC 114) and began marketing that HIV/AIDS drug at a price well above other drugs in its class -- close to $10,000 per patient per year. According to Tibotec's own website at the time, Prezista had been found to be, " ... highly-active in vitro against HIV with Protease Inhibitor resistance mutations...," and was found to be particularly effective as part of a second or third line 'salvage' therapy used in combination with Roche and Trimeris' drug, Fuzeon ($20,000 per patient per year) and Abbott's Norvir ($7,800). Taken together -- as these medications are usually prescribed as part of a lifesaving AIDS drug cocktail or regimen -- the cost for these drugs for one HIV/AIDS patient runs between $35,000 and $40,000 per patient per year.

In clinical trials, Tibotec's latest drug, Intelence, has been found to be effective for many HIV-infected patients who are NNRTI-resistant and whose infections are not responding to currently available medications. It is widely expected to be prescribed and used in conjunction with other AIDS drugs as part of salvage regimens for patients whose previous drug combinations have failed them.

"As many states and the federal government also face significant budget constraints and are drastically cutting budgets and services, we question Tibotec's judgment and timing in pricing this latest AIDS drug so high," added AHF's Weinstein. "When Governor Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating $7 million in drugs for co-morbidities and opportunistic infections from the ADAP formulary last week, AIDS Healthcare Foundation said that instead of cutting any drugs from the ADAP formulary, the Governor and state lawmakers should instead reduce reimbursements to drug companies and try to purchase drugs for ADAP and other crucial state programs at federal pricing levels such as those that the Department of Veterans Affairs has successfully negotiated with the industry. We vow to work in Sacramento and in Washington to ensure that ADAP and
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SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Copyright©2008 PR Newswire.
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