Project Inform cited in the press
US Activists 'Applaud' Darunavir Pricing
By Edwin J. Bernard, June 29, 2006
www.aidsmap.com
(mention of Project Inform in bold below)
Community treatment advocates from the United States have "applauded"
Tibotec's pricing of its newly-approved next-generation protease
inhibitor, darunavir (Prezista, formerly known as TMC114). The company
announced last week that the drug will cost less than tipranavir
(Aptivus) and is priced virtually the same as atazanavir (Reyataz),
representing a major reversal in the pricing of new antiretrovirals
in the US.
"This is the first time we can remember an HIV drug company
pricing a new drug lower than the last FDA approved anti-HIV medication,"
said Rey Candelaria, Steering Committee Chair of the AIDS Treatment
Activist Coalition (ATAC), one of the many patient advocate groups
involved in discussions with Tibotec over pricing prior to last
week's announcement as part of the Fair Pricing Coalition.
Martin Delaney of Project Inform, another member of the
Coalition, added that "we are pleased that Tibotec Therapeutics
has reversed a years-long trend toward ever higher prices by the
pharmaceutical industry. The last three drugs approved for HIV each
set new and dramatically higher pricing thresholds, making it more
and more difficult for public and private payers to keep up with
the demands for care. After lengthy discussions, Tibotec finally
priced their drug within pennies of the cost of the least expensive
of the other new drugs and far below the most expensive. It has
finally reversed the juggernaut of higher pricing and acted as a
responsible corporate citizen."
"This successful outcome proves that it is worth making our
needs known to pharmaceutical companies," commented Lynda Dee,
a member of the ATAC Drug Development Committee. "Had we not
made the effort and gotten so many people involved and speaking
out, I don't doubt we'd be seeing another jump in prices today.
Instead, we're celebrating what we hope will be the end of an era
of escalating prices."
However, she added that "ATAC would still prefer even lower
drug prices, as the price point achieved here [$25.00 per day] is
still far from inexpensive."
Tibotec's announcement—and the community's reaction—comes
in stark contrast to three years ago, when Roche announced the US
pricing of their fusion inhibitor, enfuvirtide (Fuzeon, T-20), which
currently stands at around $61 per day, and which needs to be taken
alongside a ritonavir (Norvir) boosted protease inhibitor regimen
for optimum potency.
The spiralling cost of new drugs was compounded by Abbott's 400%
price increase of ritonavir, also in 2003.
"Tibotec's decision to do the right thing is a good first
step that must be copied by other drug companies," noted Dee.
"Price escalation had to stop somewhere. We've drawn a line
in the sand and there's no turning back."
Darunavir received accelerated approval for treatment-experienced
patients from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week.
