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    Home > Active Ingredient News > Drugs Articles > Reverse of gold to waste: vertex withdraws the hepatitis C drug incivek from the market

    Reverse of gold to waste: vertex withdraws the hepatitis C drug incivek from the market

    • Last Update: 2014-08-18
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Source: e-medicine Facebook 2014-8-18 three years ago, vertex pharmaceutical launched the new hepatitis C drug incisek in a high-profile manner, which was labeled as "the fastest drug ever on the market" In 2012, the sales volume of the second year after its launch quickly climbed to $1 billion, becoming a blockbuster drug However, in mid August 2014, vertex officially announced that it would not continue to sell the drug in the U.S market since October 16, due to the continuous decline in sales and fierce competition in the hepatitis C drug market On August 11, vertex sent a letter to the medical institution saying that the decision was made "based on the listing of other alternative drugs and the reduction of demand for incivek" This move is not surprising, as sales at incivek have fallen sharply in the past year Last January, Gilead's high-profile sovaldi was launched, with a cure rate of 90% In fact, prior to the launch of sovaldi, the sales of incivek had plummeted Why is that? Because patients are waiting for a more effective sovaldi Although sovaldi's course of treatment is 12 weeks, the cost is as high as $84000 Figure: incivek's quarterly sales and vertex's quarterly total revenue (in millions of US dollars) source: vertex's spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that since the launch of incivek, more than 100000 hepatitis C patients have used the drug, but since 2013, the number of patients using the drug has been significantly and continuously decreasing The change led to 370 job cuts at vertex last fall, or 15% of its workforce, in response to the decline in incisek's sales In response, the company focused on cystic fibrosis drugs In the first six months of this year, kalydeco, its cystic fibrosis drug, generated US $212.6 million in sales and the cost of its treatment was US $300000 per year In the first half of this year, incisek's sales volume, which was highly expected by vertex, was only $13.2 million, down 96% from $361.4 million in the same period last year In a recent investor recommendation, Brian skorney, an analyst at R.W Baird, said bluntly, "incivek's sales will continue to decline because the drug has been abandoned." In fact, when express scripts, the largest pharmacy benefit management company in the United States, deleted incivek from the prescription set in early August, it had already sounded the death knell of incivek After incivek's withdrawal, what is vertex going to do next? Continue to expand kalydeco's sales At present, vertex is trying to expand the indications of the orphan drug, and has successfully obtained the approval of the European Union at the beginning of this month for carrying eight non-g551d gated mutations in cystic fibrosis patients.
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