Genentech sets off-label price of Avastin at $100K

Medical Marketing and Media, Apr 2006 by Herskovits, Beth

GENENTECH HAS established the price for the off-label use of its colorectal cancer drug Avastin at $100,000. What has critics up in arms is not only the cost but also the message it sends.

The annual cost of the drug to treat breast and lung cancer, for which it is not yet approved by the FDA, would be roughly double that of a yearlong treatment with Avastin for colorectal cancer. Based on clinical studies, the drug is expected to extend life by several months.

The biotech company has argued that breast and lung cancer patients require higher doses of Avastin, but critics countered that it is already priced above its production cost.

Mary Stutts, head of corporate relations at Genentech, pointed out that the message is multidimensional. "The only strategy we have is to tell the full story of Genentech's business model and how we approach drug development," she said via e-mail. "We believe there are many facets to the pricing story, one of which is the value of our therapies to patients today as well as to future patients."

The debate over Avastin's price has also revealed the larger PR challenge of communicating to the public about drug costs. Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, Genentech's president of product development, raised eyebrows when she told The New York Times that the price reflects "the value of innovation and the value of new therapies."

The argument diverges from the standard message about the high R&D costs companies incur when bringing a drug to market.

Genentech has not abandoned this argument and stresses that it is working to increase access for people who have no or inadequate insurance.-BH