SmithKline to price new diabetes drug cheaply- WSJ
WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) - SmithKline Beecham <SB.L> Plc
said Thursday it would price its new diabetes drug, Avandia,
competitively enough to win patients from Rezulin, a similar product
from Warner-Lambert Co. <WLA.N> and from other diabetes
medicines, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Patients will pay about $1 less for Avandia than Rezulin, which was
introduced in 1997 with much hype as the first drug that tackles the
underlying causes of diabetes, the Journal said. Rezulin has been
linked to liver damage and about 30 deaths, according to the
newspaper.
Both drugs are intended for patients suffering from Type2, or
adult-onset diabetes, which afflicts about 14 million Americans whose
bodies have lost the ability to use insulin, the hormone that processes
blood sugar, the newspaper said.
Avandia and Rezulin both work to help the diabetic body use its own
insulin thus lowering blood sugar, the Journal said. Though Avandia
has not shown signs that it can cause liver damage, experts say such
side effects may not surface until scores of people start taking the
drug.
The Journal quoted David Saks, an analyst with Gruntal & Co., saying
Rezulin will likely lose about $100 million in sales to Avandia, a drug
he predicted would rack up $300 million in sales. |
