Aa
How do we put pressure on Gilead/Bristol??
That's my question because this just makes me sick!
http://hepatitiscresearchandnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/04/gilead-bristol-put-profits-ahead-of.html
http://hepatitiscresearchandnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/04/gilead-bristol-put-profits-ahead-of.html
If you disagree, just say so. : )
To some extent this notion has been covered some time earlier by "willing", one of the sharper members of this board.
Willing has mentioned the idea of combining "best in class" type drugs to provide a cure.
However, the economic model here is that someone with deep pockets bought one one of the lead compounds and perhaps (too early to say what will shake out) it is going to be held back from other combinations of compounds in order to maximize profits for Gilead. After all, they are under stockholder scrutiny for shelling out 11 billion for the drug. The money must be regained and profits made.
What Mr Feuerstein writes is that the stage is being set for profits to come before the most efficacious possible treatment. I don't think Gilead is going to *pull a Jonas Salk* on this one....... not after dropping 11 billion.
If there is a bright light, it is that there are other companies, other compounds coming. No doubt Gilead is crunching numbers and weighing options how to maximize profits. Gilead might be able to make serious bank in partnering with other companies; make the money while they can before another juggernaut compound comes from another company to unseat the king.
These drugs and therapies after all, have a shelf life.
Lets not forget, that is true for members of the HCV infected community as well. Many people will need the most efficacious treatment and soon. A weaker treatment combination or a longer delay will mean death for some of us.
willy
To some extent this notion has been covered some time earlier by "willing", one of the sharper members of this board.
Willing has mentioned the idea of combining "best in class" type drugs to provide a cure.
However, the economic model here is that someone with deep pockets bought one one of the lead compounds and perhaps (too early to say what will shake out) it is going to be held back from other combinations of compounds in order to maximize profits for Gilead. After all, they are under stockholder scrutiny for shelling out 11 billion for the drug. The money must be regained and profits made.
What Mr Feuerstein writes is that the stage is being set for profits to come before the most efficacious possible treatment. I don't think Gilead is going to *pull a Jonas Salk* on this one....... not after dropping 11 billion.
If there is a bright light, it is that there are other companies, other compounds coming. No doubt Gilead is crunching numbers and weighing options how to maximize profits. Gilead might be able to make serious bank in partnering with other companies; make the money while they can before another juggernaut compound comes from another company to unseat the king.
These drugs and therapies after all, have a shelf life.
Lets not forget, that is true for members of the HCV infected community as well. Many people will need the most efficacious treatment and soon. A weaker treatment combination or a longer delay will mean death for some of us.
willy
Thanks Will.
Oh please Katla....Let it loose because it's probably exactly what I want to say...Hmm??? Making you the Fall guy wouldn't be fair of me would it :-)
Outrageous is right!!!
Outrageous is right!!!
Drug companies always say patients come before profits,
-----------------------------------
I find that interesting..
Will
-----------------------------------
I find that interesting..
Will
This is outrageous imho. I won't say what I really think because experience taught me that pharma bashing on hcv forums is almost as popular as mentioning alcohol.
It bears printing so that people can read this more easily.
Adam has for years provided some of the best information about the newest wave of HCV drugs since I've been reading him in 2006.
Adam also made a few waves with the EASL information embargo this year as well. Always worth a read. ~willy
http://hepatitiscresearchandnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/04/gilead-bristol-put-profits-ahead-of.html
87756315
By Adam Feuerstein 04/19/12 - 10:24 AM EDT
BARCELONA (TheStreet) -- The most effective new therapy for hepatitis C -- two pills that could cure nearly every patient treated -- may never see the light of day because the developers of these new medicines, Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY_) and Gilead Sciences(GILD_), seem unable to work together.
Apparently, profits are more important than best patient care.
The new Hep C therapy at issue here combines Bristol's daclatasvir with Gilead's GS-7977. Each is a single pill administered once a day. The results from this new therapy are nothing short of spectacular -- an early cure rate of 100% for genotype 1 patients and 91% of genotype 2/3 patients, according to data from a mid-stage study announced Thursday at the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease (EASL) meeting.
A 100% cure rate for genotype 1 patients! Obviously, results can't get better than that.
You'd think there'd be a rush to move the combination regimen of daclatasvir and GS-7977 into a larger, confirmatory phase III trial, but you'd be mistaken. Amazingly, this most promising new treatment for hepatitis C patients may actually be discontinued because Bristol and Gilead can't work together.
Good luck understanding why Bristol and Gilead can't come together to help Hep C patients. The companies can't even agree on the fact that the two companies are not agreeing.
"Given the strong SVR4 [early cure] data from the combo trial of daclatasvir (DCV) + GS-7977, and in the interest of advancing the science and for the benefit of patients, we were interested in a Phase III collaboration. Unfortunately Gilead was not interested," said Bristol spokeswoman Cristi Barnett.
Gilead spokeswoman Amy Flood responded, "That's not the case. There are a number of new data sets at EASL and we need to evaluate and understand all of them. We're going to do that, and look at the best option or options for proceeding as quickly as possible to advance the best all-oral regimen."
Gilead may have $11 billion worth of reasons for not wanting to hook up with Bristol, as in the money spent by the company to acquire Pharmasset this year and gain control of GS-7977. Gilead spent outrageously to buy Pharmasset in an attempt to dominate the future of Hep C treatment in much the same way it already dominates the HIV market.
Gilead needs to justify that $11 billion and deliver profits and returns to its shareholders. Collaborating with Bristol would more than likely dilute Gilead's Hep C profits, which helps explain why Gilead isn't exactly thrilled to push ahead with the daclatasvir GS-7977 combination.
Instead, Gilead would prefer to combine GS-7977 with GS-5885, another drug it owns 100% that belongs to the same NS5A inhibitor class as daclatasvir. But a lot of work remains to be done on GS-5885; it may not be as safe or as effective as daclatasvir. It could also take longer for this all-Gilead combination to reach the market, which means Hep C patients in need of treatment will suffer.
Bristol is in a similar situation. Without access to GS-7977, the company is likely to move ahead with a combination of daclatasvir and INX-189, which belongs to the same nucleoside, or "nuc" class of drugs as GS-7977. Bristol acquired INX-189 when it bought Inhibitex for $2 billion earlier this year.
Bristol still has a lot of work to do with the daclatasvir-INX-189 combination before it can move into phase III studies, which also potentially means Hep C patients will be waiting longer.
Idenix Pharmaceuticals(IDIX_) is also working on a regimen combining an NS5A inhibitor with a nuc, but those clinical studies are well behind Bristol and Gilead.
Regardless of who's to blame in this Bristol-Gilead spat, Hep C patients in need of convenient and potent new cures are being hurt. It remains to be seen if leading Hep C doctors, patient advocacy groups or medical societies like EASL will object and pressure the companies to move daclatasvir and GS-7977 into phase III studies as soon as possible.
Drug companies always say patients come before profits, but that feels like nothing more than an empty slogan today.
--Written by Adam Feuerstein in Boston."
=========================
Adam has for years provided some of the best information about the newest wave of HCV drugs since I've been reading him in 2006.
Adam also made a few waves with the EASL information embargo this year as well. Always worth a read. ~willy
http://hepatitiscresearchandnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2012/04/gilead-bristol-put-profits-ahead-of.html
87756315
By Adam Feuerstein 04/19/12 - 10:24 AM EDT
BARCELONA (TheStreet) -- The most effective new therapy for hepatitis C -- two pills that could cure nearly every patient treated -- may never see the light of day because the developers of these new medicines, Bristol-Myers Squibb(BMY_) and Gilead Sciences(GILD_), seem unable to work together.
Apparently, profits are more important than best patient care.
The new Hep C therapy at issue here combines Bristol's daclatasvir with Gilead's GS-7977. Each is a single pill administered once a day. The results from this new therapy are nothing short of spectacular -- an early cure rate of 100% for genotype 1 patients and 91% of genotype 2/3 patients, according to data from a mid-stage study announced Thursday at the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease (EASL) meeting.
A 100% cure rate for genotype 1 patients! Obviously, results can't get better than that.
You'd think there'd be a rush to move the combination regimen of daclatasvir and GS-7977 into a larger, confirmatory phase III trial, but you'd be mistaken. Amazingly, this most promising new treatment for hepatitis C patients may actually be discontinued because Bristol and Gilead can't work together.
Good luck understanding why Bristol and Gilead can't come together to help Hep C patients. The companies can't even agree on the fact that the two companies are not agreeing.
"Given the strong SVR4 [early cure] data from the combo trial of daclatasvir (DCV) + GS-7977, and in the interest of advancing the science and for the benefit of patients, we were interested in a Phase III collaboration. Unfortunately Gilead was not interested," said Bristol spokeswoman Cristi Barnett.
Gilead spokeswoman Amy Flood responded, "That's not the case. There are a number of new data sets at EASL and we need to evaluate and understand all of them. We're going to do that, and look at the best option or options for proceeding as quickly as possible to advance the best all-oral regimen."
Gilead may have $11 billion worth of reasons for not wanting to hook up with Bristol, as in the money spent by the company to acquire Pharmasset this year and gain control of GS-7977. Gilead spent outrageously to buy Pharmasset in an attempt to dominate the future of Hep C treatment in much the same way it already dominates the HIV market.
Gilead needs to justify that $11 billion and deliver profits and returns to its shareholders. Collaborating with Bristol would more than likely dilute Gilead's Hep C profits, which helps explain why Gilead isn't exactly thrilled to push ahead with the daclatasvir GS-7977 combination.
Instead, Gilead would prefer to combine GS-7977 with GS-5885, another drug it owns 100% that belongs to the same NS5A inhibitor class as daclatasvir. But a lot of work remains to be done on GS-5885; it may not be as safe or as effective as daclatasvir. It could also take longer for this all-Gilead combination to reach the market, which means Hep C patients in need of treatment will suffer.
Bristol is in a similar situation. Without access to GS-7977, the company is likely to move ahead with a combination of daclatasvir and INX-189, which belongs to the same nucleoside, or "nuc" class of drugs as GS-7977. Bristol acquired INX-189 when it bought Inhibitex for $2 billion earlier this year.
Bristol still has a lot of work to do with the daclatasvir-INX-189 combination before it can move into phase III studies, which also potentially means Hep C patients will be waiting longer.
Idenix Pharmaceuticals(IDIX_) is also working on a regimen combining an NS5A inhibitor with a nuc, but those clinical studies are well behind Bristol and Gilead.
Regardless of who's to blame in this Bristol-Gilead spat, Hep C patients in need of convenient and potent new cures are being hurt. It remains to be seen if leading Hep C doctors, patient advocacy groups or medical societies like EASL will object and pressure the companies to move daclatasvir and GS-7977 into phase III studies as soon as possible.
Drug companies always say patients come before profits, but that feels like nothing more than an empty slogan today.
--Written by Adam Feuerstein in Boston."
=========================
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