Namenda Price Set Below Aricept; Forest Wants To Drive Combination Use
Executive Summary
Forest plans to price Namenda at a mid-single digit discount to Pfizer's Aricept to encourage uptake of the Alzheimer's disease drug as add-on therapy
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Forest plans to price Namenda at a mid-single digit discount to Pfizer's Aricept to encourage uptake of the Alzheimer's disease drug as add-on therapy. "We thought that would be the appropriate place to bring in there to really drive combination use," Forest VP-Investor Relations Charles Triano said Nov. 10 at the CIBC World Markets Healthcare Conference in New York City. "Given that most of the price will be based on what's the combination cost, we felt that that's the right way to commit, as the cheaper portion of the combination." Forest anticipates broad use of Namenda (memantine) as add-on therapy because of its favorable side effect profile, as long as it does not present a heavy cost burden. "You don't want price to become a hurdle," Triano said. Forest does not want providers to say, "'well gee, it makes total logical sense to add this drug everywhere I can because there's no side effects, it can only help. Boy, look at the price, I don't know now if I can.'" Pricing strategy might be particularly important for Namenda; at long-term care facilities, there are a "greater proportion of cash payors versus the SSRI market, for example," Triano noted. Namenda was approved Oct. 16 for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. It is the only treatment indicated for use in the severe patient group. Clinical trials showed increased efficacy when memantine was used in combination with Aricept (donezepil) (1 (Also see "Forest Namenda Clears FDA; Alzheimer Drug Shipments To Begin In December" - Pink Sheet, 20 Oct, 2003.), p. 3). Forest is hoping that combination use of Namenda will help drive the monotherapy market. By pushing the combo therapy, "maybe we can get some more business, monotherapy, that way," Triano said. "We think it will be added, no questions, and maybe do a switch here and there." Forest has said its full sales force will not be detailing Namenda to physicians before March, although the company expects the product to be available in pharmacies in January. |