obesity
Novo launches high-dose Wegovy
Novo Nordisk today launched the newly approved high-dose version of its obesity drug Wegovy.
The list price of the 7.2 milligram dose will be $1,349 per month, the same as the other doses. But it will sell the high dose in the cash market at $399 a month, slightly higher than the $349 price for other doses.
It's not yet clear how valuable the product may be for Novo, which has lost market share to Eli Lilly. In a Phase 3 trial, high-dose Wegovy led to about 19% weight loss, more than the 15% weight loss that the standard Wegovy dose has shown. But it falls slightly short of the 21% weight loss that Lilly’s Zepbound has demonstrated.
It's also possible the injectable products won't be as much a focus anymore, since both companies are now competing with new pills on the market.
drug pricing
Should 'orphan' drugs be exempt from price caps?
As Americans struggle with increasing drug costs, more states are creating prescription drug affordability boards, which are authorities designed to help lower medicine prices. A key question is which drugs these boards should focus on.
In Colorado, a state that many others are watching closely, pharma companies and patient groups are pushing for orphan drugs for rare disease to be exempt from any price limits. But the issue is many medicines that have an orphan designation from the FDA are also approved to treat common conditions and thereby make up a significant percentage of spending.
Take Amgen's Enbrel. Colorado's drug board last year voted to cap the price of the drug. It's commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and plaque psoriasis, but it also has an orphan designation for treating a type of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Read more from STAT's Ed Silverman.
Correction: Yesterday's newsletter incorrectly stated the headquarters of Stipple Bio. The company is based in Cambridge, Mass.
