First Copycat Biotech Drug Spurs $250B Obamacare Savings

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Forbes

Bruce Japsen

The first U.S. approval of the “generic” biologic prescription version of the widely prescribed anti-infective cancer medicine Neupogen officially opens the door to a new era in cheaper drugs that could save the U.S. health care system tens of billions of dollars a year.

The so-called biosimilar of Neupogen known as Zarxio from Novartis (NVS), was approved Friday by the Food and Drug Administration. Here’s Forbes’ David Kroll’s look at the approval.

Zarxio’s expected to be prescribed as a cheaper alternative to a brand name drug sold by Amgen (AMGN) that had an average monthly price of $3,500, according to pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts (ESRX).

Biosimilars are possible thanks to the Affordable Care Act and the law’s promise to bring cheaper versions of expensive biotech drugs to the U.S. market.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2015/03/07/first-copycat-biotech-drug-spurs-250b-obamacare-savings/

[truthisfreedom]

1. Thanks, Obama!

Seriously!

[Botany]

2. But what about Benghazi?

Thank you Mr. President

[valerief]

9. Keep up. It's Mailghazi now. nt

[Botany]

10. That email "scandal" is such a joke.

There is no email controversy. The only controversy is how such a made up bull shit story
can get so much media attention. HRC broke no laws or rules, her use of a private email
account was and has been a known fact for years, and she has now asked for the release
all her emails so anybody can look at them.



White Water, Benghazi, Swift Boats for Truth, The IRS scandal, WMDs are known to be in Iraq,
Bush won Florida and Ohio in 2000 and 2004 on the up and up, we need voter ID laws because people
vote twice all the time, ACORN, watch out for the liberal media, Al Gore said he invented the internet
and on and on

[sendero]

3. This is great....

... news. Lets hope for more of these.

[mopinko]

4. gee thanks obama.

no really. the other parts of the law are amazing.

[eggplant]

5. This is just a distraction to make us forget about, um..., what was it again?

Ben somebody?

[djean111]

6. The TPP wants biologics to have a protection period - no generics - of 12 years.

The TPP is also seeking to extend the period before generic drugs are allowed. For poor countries, and for those in rich countries who do not have insurance, or who have not-so-great insurance, this is a pretty bad deal.

[mathematic]

7. Which is exactly what Obamacare sets it to.

12 years after FDA approval. It's patent protection for this type of technology.

Additionally, these are not generics. That's why we needed a law to allow pharmaceutical companies to bring them to market without years and years of additional development.

[djean111]

8. I know they are not generics. That is why I mentioned generics separately.

Without single payer, a lot of life-saving drugs will still be out of the reach of poor people and people who cannot afford insurance. Millions of those people right here in the USA.

[jmowreader]

11. Anyone want to guess what the next biosimilar should be?

I used to have links (which I can no longer find, sorry) indicating that a 12-week course of Sovaldi, the famous Hep C curative drug, costs about $300 to make. Those pills then sell for $84,000. Certainly they deserve to recoup the billion dollars they spent on it between time of molecule discovery and the writing of the first retail prescription...but considering this stuff has been on the market since December 2013 and it's become the first thing doctors reach for when a Hep C patient presents, I think they have.

[titaniumsalute]

12. The BP Medicine that I was one used to cost me post insurance

$75 per month. A generic version of the same drug came out a few months ago....$8 per month. FUCK THE PHARM companies. That is the difference of $900 per year versus now $96 per year.