Medscape: Will Docs' Survey Pose Worry For Merck's Zepatier® -- Near-Term Hep C Market Penetration?

Exactly a month ago now, we shouted "let the pricing wars commence". Well, in order for there to be a price war, we will need to see more um. . . purchasing power, behind Kenilworth's new offering. That is to say -- the docs will need to demand it, in far greater numbers. I wouldn't get unduly alarmed here, but this will present a bit of a challenge for the sales force, carrying the Zepatier^® bag. . .

Medscape -- ever at the ready, here, has news of a survey of the relevant US docs -- and their (at least publicly announced) 2016 prescribing plans. Here is the bit -- but do go read it all, at MedScape.com:

. . . .Only 11% of physicians said they would prescribe the new drug, touted for cure rates topping 90%, to at least half of their patients who meet the indication in the first year. And although 17% said they felt comfortable with elbasvir/grazoprevir compared with other HCV drugs and would quickly start prescribing it, the majority of physicians expressed a more cautious approach.

These patterns also held true among gastroenterologists, who treat slightly more patients with HCV than their peers and claim to know more about the new drug, although they were slightly more likely (16%) to prescribe it for a majority of their eligible patients in the coming 12 months. . . .

We may be off the grid a bit now, working on the KaloBios bankruptcy analysis -- check in there, if you just need a fix of some more odd-ball life sciences law and policy. And, in the mean time, be excellent to one another. . . .