quote:

Originally posted by CQB60:
The “most important factor” that drives prescription drug prices higher in the United States than anywhere else in the world is the existence of government-protected “monopoly” rights for drug manufacturers. Drug manufacturers in the U.S. set their own prices, and that’s not the norm elsewhere in the world. Countries with national health programs have government entities that either negotiate drug prices or decide not to cover drugs whose prices they deem excessive. No similar negotiating happens in the U.S.

That model elsewhere has its own set of problems. For those people who would be better served by a drug that's not covered, they're screwed.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
Ok, here's the deal with this drug. As I said before, I was a rep for Horizon Pharma (schmoozing doctors and flirting with nurses) and sold Duexis/Vimovo/Pennsaid 2%.

Duexis is for the treatment of Osteo Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylosis.

Duexis is 800mg of pharmaceutical grade ibuprofen and 26.6mg of famotidine.

You have the back story for this drug since you were in the trenches and, as interesting as your story is, it's missing the full story for me.

ibuprofen can be bought over the counter, right? famotidine can be bought over the counter, yes?
Does Horizon Pharma have a lock or patent on manufacturing this two chemicals in one pill? Can't someone else just pack one 800 mg pill of ibuprofen and 1 26.6 mg of famotidine inside each blister of a blister pack?

I think this touches on another facet of the pharmaceutical pricing industry (and I'm not saying this explains it all as I think there's something else going on with this medicine). If you look at most pharmaceuticals, there'll be a 1, 2, and 3 companies in market share in the US. They'll fight tooth and nail everywhere else in the world but not in the US or established countries. And, that's because there's a tacit agreement between the companies that competition is going to hurt everyone. If number 2 or 3 tries to gain market share in the US, number 1 will empty its war chest to maintain dominance; it's a Mutually Assured Destruction policy. And the top three know they're profit margins are acceptable enough to their respective investors and they don't to rock the boat.

Sometimes, there are skirmishes with specific accounts but that's to remind the offending party of the MAD policy. For example if #1 tries to go after #3's gravy boat, #3 will execute a maneuver affecting #1 as a shot across the bow to remind #1 that they can lose a lot more than what they hope to gain.

In the end, it is an exercise of what the market will bear just like airline seats or that guy who went to jail for jacking up the price so much but not in a subtle way.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
Ok, here's the deal with this drug. As I said before, I was a rep for Horizon Pharma (schmoozing doctors and flirting with nurses) and sold Duexis/Vimovo/Pennsaid 2%.

Duexis is for the treatment of Osteo Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylosis.

Duexis is 800mg of pharmaceutical grade ibuprofen and 26.6mg of famotidine.

You have the back story for this drug since you were in the trenches and, as interesting as your story is, it's missing the full story for me.

ibuprofen can be bought over the counter, right? famotidine can be bought over the counter, yes?
Does Horizon Pharma have a lock or patent on manufacturing this two chemicals in one pill? Can't someone else just pack one 800 mg pill of ibuprofen and 1 26.6 mg of famotidine inside each blister of a blister pack?

What do you want to know in regards to the full story? Horizon charges want it thinks it can get for widely available generic meds combined into 1 pill.

Of course the two pill pack would work, but I'd imagine you'd have to go through all the extended trials and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in test fees to the FDA to make it happen. Or you could sell it from the trunk of your car or something.

quote:

In the end, it is an exercise of what the market will bear just like airline seats or that guy who went to jail for jacking up the price so much but not in a subtle way.

Not really, it's a little more devious. More along the lines of what the company can ram down the throats of insurance companies...which is why they work around traditional drug stores, i.e. CVS, Walgreens, who won't fill it.

After detailing the doctor about the med, I'd go speak to the MA and make sure that I beat into her brain that when the doctor prescribes this, the script needs to be electronically sent to a Specialty Pharmacy that will fill the script, mail the drug to the patient's house and deal with the insurance company freaking out about it.

My girlfriend (of 26 years) started a new job delivering meds to homes. nursing homes and hospitals. Saturday she got a call meet and get the meds from another worker bringing something for a hospital in New Orleans. This other worker picked up the package in the western part of Louisiana and met us in Baton Rouge. We got the package and took it to a hospital on the east side of New Orleans. It turned out to be 6 pills. 4 Levothyroxin and 2 Penicilln. I would love to see what that cost to drive from one side of Louisiana to the other.
Another one a few weeks ago was about a 30 mile run from the pharmacy to a resident and it was a bottle of Children Tylenol.

I would love to see what some of these runs are costing.

My favorite is Vanda’s drug, sold as Hetlioz, costs $148,000 a year. It’s marketed to 1,000 blind people in the country with a specific condition through 16,000 commercial buys a year. (Apparently, they’re advertising to the sighted friends of blind people).

The kicker? The drug has the same efficacy as a five dollar bottle of melatonin.

quote:

Originally posted by Spokane228:
My favorite is Vanda’s drug, sold as Hetlioz, costs $148,000 a year. It’s marketed to 1,000 blind people in the country with a specific condition through 16,000 commercial buys a year. (Apparently, they’re advertising to the sighted friends of blind people).

The kicker? The drug has the same efficacy as a five dollar bottle of melatonin.

The difference is that the $5 melatonin didn't need to go through FDA trials costing an ass ton of money.

Also, this sounds like an Orphan Drug, An orphan drug is a pharmaceutical agent which has been developed to treat a rare medical condition, the condition itself being referred to as a rare disease. A rare disease, also referred to as an "orphan disease", is any disease which affects a small percentage of the population. Most rare diseases are genetic, and thus are present throughout the person's entire life, even if symptoms do not immediately appear.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:

quote:

Originally posted by Spokane228:
My favorite is Vanda’s drug, sold as Hetlioz, costs $148,000 a year. It’s marketed to 1,000 blind people in the country with a specific condition through 16,000 commercial buys a year. (Apparently, they’re advertising to the sighted friends of blind people).

The kicker? The drug has the same efficacy as a five dollar bottle of melatonin.

The difference is that the $5 melatonin didn't need to go through FDA trials costing an ass ton of money.

Well, yes, that's the point. Companies can't patent a natural supplement, so they synthesize something they can.

One of the Doctors on the panel who approved the drug wanted to vote it down, because the cost/efficacy rate was so poor compared to melatonin. But the drug was safe and effective, so it was approved.

$148,000 a year with the same efficacy of something you can get in the vitamin aisle? It's a scam. And at some point, the costs are passed on to us.

My wife was recently given a RX for an anti seizure medication. I went to Walmart to have it filled. They wanted over 2000.00 for 60 days worth. I went to Publix and they wanted 1100.00 for the same amount. Costco wanted 751.00. What is it worth?

We ended up getting a year's supply for free from the manufacturer.