f Erlangen-Nuremberg, believes tofacitinib should bepriced between biological anti-TNFs, costing up to $20,000 ayear, and the around $1,000 older drug methotrexate.
Small molecule pills are, after all, a lot cheaper to makethan complex biotech drugs, he noted.
"I would hope they (Pfizer) will price it lower than abiological drug," Schett said. "We live in a world of limitedhealthcare budgets and price is always an issue."
Paul Emery, president of the European League AgainstRheumatism (EULAR) and a rheumatologist from Leeds TeachingHospital, agrees price is key but is not banking on a bargain.
RISK-BENEFIT RATIO
"The data is very impressive but the biggest thing thesedays will be the cost and we have no idea what that will be ...I do not think it will be much cheaper -- that is a personalopinion," he said. "The way it is priced will have the biggestinfluence on its market penetration."
A Pfizer spokeswoman said it was premature to speculateabout price as tofacitinib was still in development. The U.S.drugmaker aims to file for regulatory approval of the product --the most advanced of a group of new arthritis pills beingdeveloped by various firms -- by the end of 2011.
Tofacitinib is Pfizer's biggest new drug hope but analystsales forecasts are subdued
christian louboutin jeweled shoes , reflecting uncertainty about how itwill fit into treatment regimens.
Analysts, on average, have forecast annual tofacitinib salesof $1.1 billion by 2015, according to Thomson Reuters Pharma.
Roch Doliveux
Cheap Football Jerseys Bangkok railroad construction project next month., chief executive of UCB SA (UCB.BR), maker ofthe anti-TNF Cimzia, said it was too early to quantify thethreat.
"Our assumption is that they will have a place in themarket. It is too soon to say what the risk-benefit ratio is yetand that will determine how big that place is
christian louboutin jeweled shoes ," he said duringEULAR's annual congress in London, where fresh tofacitinib datawas presented. [ID:nLDE74O1RE]
Tofacitinib's progress so far has echoes of Novartis'sGilenya, which was also linked to safety issues during itsdevelopment yet was ultimately approved.
Novartis went on to set an average annual U.S. price forGilenya of $48,000 last October -- around half as much again asfor older injectable multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs.
Trevor Mundel
christian louboutin jeweled shoes , the Swiss drugmaker's head of development,told Reuters that price was justified because head-to-head datashowed Gilenya was "dramatically better" than injections. Theconvenience of an oral pill was a lesser consideration.
"I do not think the oral versus biologic in terms of pricingis as crucial as is the value," Mundel said.
When it comes to choosing between a pill and an injection,many doctors are unsure if convenience will prompt currentanti-TNF patients to switch from successful treatmentslike Abbott Labs' (ABT.N) Humira
christian louboutin jeweled shoes , Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N)Remicade, Amgen Inc's (AMGN.O) Enbrel and Cimzia.
"It is very interesting. I was talking to some of theleading RA (rheumatoid arthritis) specialists," said Mundel."They think that the hurdle