Abbvie’s hep C drug pricing threatens Gilead’s dominance

Pharma already leads the business world in unpredictability, with billions in sales potentially riding on a few points of statistical significance in a clinical trial.

[...] even within that context, a series of blockbuster medicines for hepatitis C have made for a roller-coaster ride for companies and investors.

AbbVie Inc. last week threw another big curve at this market by pricing its newly FDA-approved drug Mavyret — which might be the most effective hepatitis C medicine approved yet — at a massive discount.

Medicines from Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. approved within the past six years, which once booked billions in combined sales, are now essentially non-factors.

After offering behind-the-scene discounts to insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers and other payers, Mavyret’s price is actually not far from Harvoni’s, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

The real headache for Gilead — which already faces steep declines in hepatitis C drug sales because of increasing competition and the fact that many patients have been cured — lies in the fact that not all hepatitis patients or medicines are the same.

AbbVie’s new drug can treat all of the major subtypes of hepatitis C. And it can cure the disease in many patients in just eight weeks.