Dive Brief:
- A new analysis by CVS Health Corp finds a "plateau and downward trend" in use of Gilead's Hepatitis C pill Sovaldi over the last four months, Reuters reports.
- The study pored through data for 2,000 CVS Caremark patients who filled Sovaldi prescriptions since last December and found a discontinuation rate of 8.1% between May and August—four times the dropout rate observed during clinical trials.
- Analysts are speculating that Gilead will see a fresh crop of customers once the company wins approval for a new combination therapy that includes sofosbuvir (the active ingredient in Sovaldi) and the experimental compound ledipasvir, which eliminates the need for concurrent treatment with ribavarin and interferon and shortens the overall treatment period.
Dive Insight:
The analysis suggests that Gen 1 Sovaldi is inching towards a tipping point after a year of blockbuster sales, expected to reach $2.24 billion in Q3. That's not entirely surprising considering that the FDA is expected to give its blessing to Gilead's next-gen Sovaldi combination therapy early next month.
That treatment has been shown to cure some Hep C patients in as little as eight weeks, according to SFGate, and has a staggering 99% cure rate by 24 weeks. The consolidated treatment will be more convenient for patients since it eliminates the need for ribavarin and interferon—and Gilead has indicated that it won't be all that much pricier than the current combined monotherapies are for Sovaldi users.
"We do plan on launching a better product without having a significant premium," said Gilead executive VP Gregg Alton in an interview with Reuters.
Want to read more? You may enjoy this story about 6 things you need to know about Sovaldi.