So if the Zestril/Coreg CR combo wins, then what? Can they make that into one pill in a partnership with AZ and take over the market? Seems to me that unless they're prepared to do such a thing, they'd have to hope that Coreg CR beats the Coreg CR/Zestril combination. Otherwise, at best, it is 2 pills versus 3, no? Which may help versus the generic threat, but CASPER seemed to show that this patient population was unusually compliant.
Such a patient might be asked by his doc "Can you take three pills a day like you've been doing, or would you be less likely to miss doses if you only had to take two pills a day?" And such an unusually compliant patient would probably answer "I can do either one, so which one does my insurance cover?" You know he'd get a better copay on the generic Coreg IR BID with a Zestril. The patient still has to open two bottles; but with the generic Coreg IR/Zestril combo, he must get two pills instead of one out of one of the bottles. How hard is that? These aren't all Alzheimer's patients. Inquiring insurance companies want to know. Real world, I wonder about the worth of this trial. I'm thinking MF is overstating the importance of COSMOS. Seems to me that if GSK finds the Coreg CR/Zestril combo to be more effective than either alone, they'd still have to run another trial of the combination against the generic IR/Zestril combo to show superiority over it if they hope to make much headway against the generic threat. IMO, CASPER really hosed them, no matter what MF thinks about COSMOS. But I welcome different opinions.
Anyhow, do you know when data is expected?
Oh, and note that the Coreg IR generic manufacturers used paragraph III challenges, and as such there is no exclusivity. All generic contestants can enter the competition at once, now. 14 contestants.
TIA & Cheers, Tuck |
