Do go read both, but you'll need to pay the subscription to read all of the WSJ piece. Here's a bit from Damian Garde, writing for FierceBiotech:
. . . .All three could win FDA approval before the end of 2015, and, thanks to stellar results and the potential for combination treatments, analysts expect the drugs to peak at about $12.5 billion a year, WSJ notes, with Bristol-Myers claiming the lion's share. None of the companies is ready to talk about pricing, but Citi told the newspaper that PD-1 treatments could cost as much as $240,000 once they make it to market, far outstripping the costs of current vanguard therapies like Bristol-Myers' Yervoy. . . .
[W]ith all three PD-1/PD-L1 blockers expected to hit the market at around the same time, competition and discounting may undercut some of the rosiest projections of peak sales. More importantly, though, the mounting public fervor over the cost of medications could alter expectations for all three companies. Some of the most impressive immunotherapy data have come from studies combining newfangled therapies with other pricey cancer meds, meaning the highest odds of patient success will likely come from doubling up six-figure treatment regimens. To date, payers have been willing to shell out for efficacious cancer drugs, but the expected leap in costs for PD-1 drugs could create a "completely unsustainable" pricing situation, Institute of Cancer Research Deputy CEO Paul Workman told the WSJ. . . .
Just as we've been saying -- with some new clarity likely due, come June at ASCO in Chicago. Stay tuned.
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