Novartis Unveils M.S. Drug Pricing

By JEANNE WHALEN

Novartis AG said its new drug for multiple sclerosis will have a wholesale price of about $48,000 a year per person in the U.S., making it among the most expensive drugs for the disease.

The Swiss drug giant is launching the treatment, Gilenya, in the U.S. this month. Gilenya is the U.S. market's first oral drug for MS, a disease typically treated with injections or infusions. In an emailed statement, a Novartis spokeswoman said the drug's wholesale acquisition cost—an industry term for the price drug companies charge wholesalers—will be about $3,700 for a 28-day supply in the U.S.

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Adrian Moser/Bloomberg

The Novartis AG headquarters in Basel, Switzerland.

To date, the most expensive drug for MS has been Tysabri from Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. PLC, which costs about $40,000 a year in the U.S.

Drug companies often give buyers discounts or rebates that aren't publicly disclosed, making a drug's ultimate price difficult to determine.

Novartis said it will provide Gilenya at "no cost" to U.S. residents who have no prescription-drug insurance and whose income is "less than 500% of the federal poverty level." The company said it will also cover "a significant portion" of the out-of-pocket co-payments for "eligible patients with commercial health insurance."

The Food and Drug Administration approved Gilenya for sale last month. Rival Merck KGaA suffered a blow last month when European drug regulators said the company's oral MS drug, cladribine, shouldn't be approved for sale in the European Union. Merck is still awaiting an FDA decision in the U.S.

UBS pharmaceutical analysts this past week said they expect Novartis' Gilenya to benefit from Merck being sidelined from the EU market. UBS estimated Gilenya would reach annual sales of $4.5 billion in 2015.

Write to Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com

via online.wsj.com

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