5 Biotechs and the Drugs That May Put Them in Trump's Disfavor
January 19, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
NEW YORK – In a recent press conference, President-elect Donald Trump condemned pharma companies for manufacturing drugs overseas, as well as promised to use the power of the federal government to combat pricing problems through a bidding procedure for Medicare plans.
After Trump is sworn in as President of the United States on Jan. 20, some drug companies will be paying close attention to his actions when it comes to any proposals affecting pricing. Writing in The Motley Fool, analyst Todd Campbell pegs five companies that “could stand to lose out” under the Trump administration.
1. Eli Lilly
Campbell pointed to Eli Lilly ’s colorectal cancer drug Cyramza as a potential concern for the Indianapolis-based company. Campbell said Cyramza has an annual price tag of about $183,600, which is $70,000 higher than competing drug Avastin. One good thing for Lilly is Cyramza only generated $159 million for the company last year, which means it’s not one of the company’s highest performing drugs. That being said though, Cyramza has seen revenue growth of 43 percent over the past year, Campbell said.
2. Pfizer
Pfizer ’s lung cancer drug Xalkori has an annual cost of about $143,000, Campbell said. Although it’s not the most expensive drug when it comes to treating a specific genetic variation of non-small cell lung cancer, known as ALK+, the price is high enough to be on a watch list for regulators. In the third quarter of 2016, Xalkori generated $140 million, up 14 percent from the previous year. Pfizer markets other costly cancer drugs as well, such as Ibrance and Xtandi. Campbell said those drugs could also feel the pinch from pricing control legislation.
3. Seattle Genetics
Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment Adcetris has an estimated annual cost of $337,600. If bidding is undertaken, Seattle Genetics could “be dinged,” Campbell said. Adcetris is Seattle Genetics only commercial-stage drug.
4. Ariad Pharmaceuticals
Recently acquired by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the Japanese company could be forced to deal with price pushback on leukemia drug, Iclusig. Ariad has been under scrutiny for its pricing of the drug. Since it launched in 2012, the price for Iclusig has risen 73 percent to about $198,000 annually. The drug is used in an ultra-orphan patient population of around 1,000 to 2,000 patients per year and those kinds of drugs usually come with a hefty price tag.
5. Novelion Therapeutics
Newly formed Novelion Therapeutics has Juxtapid as one of its lead drugs. Juxtapid is used to treat homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), high cholesterol caused by a rare genetic mutation. The drug has an annual price tag of $295,000. However, the drug faces stiff competition from the recently approved Praluent, co-developed by Sanofi and Regeneron , which has a lower price tag of $14,600. Amgen’s injectable anti-cholesterol drug, Repatha, has an even smaller price point of $14,600 per year. Campbell said Novelion garners 50 percent of its revenue from Juxtapid and any push back against its pricing will hurt the company’s bottom line.