Payers are growing increasingly balky at the price Gilead Sciences ($GILD) slapped on its breakthrough hepatitis C pill Sovaldi. An expert panel in California that assesses new treatments voted Sovaldi a "low value" treatment--not because it doesn't work well enough, but because of its $1,000-a-pill price tag.
While the vote does not amount to a coverage decision, it could lead to treatment recommendations for payers. And those recommendations might just include a prioritization schedule that puts the sickest patients first in line.
The vote by the California Technology Assessment Forum was part of an assessment of hepatitis C drugs, including Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) new protease inhibitor Olysio. Unlike assessments by government cost-effectiveness agencies like the U.K.'s NICE, the panel vote isn't binding. The 15-member group didn't even make specific recommendations about how to use the drugs.
Read more: CA panel shivs Gilead's Sovaldi on price, suggests focusing it on sickest hep C patients - FiercePharma http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/ca-panel-shivs-gileads-sovaldi-price-suggests-focusing-it-sickest-hep-c-pat/2014-03-12#ixzz2vviuvqBx
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