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Biotech / Medical : Pharma News Only (pfe,mrk,wla, sgp, ahp, bmy, lly) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nancy who wrote (1048)	11/13/1998 10:23:00 PM
From: James Baker	Respond to of 1722

Nancy, Medicare does not cover ANYTHING when it first gets FDA approval. Biomatrix just got Medicare # for coverage of their SYNIVISC which was approved by the FDA about 1.5 years ago. Medicare payments will be the next big project for IMNX and AHP. Hey, but don't you think the tremendous PR blitz "IRON MAN CONTESTANT after ENBREL" is every bit as good as the blitz PFE put on for Viagra. My greatest compliments to the PR staff at IMNX and AHP!!!!! Jim

To: Nancy who wrote (1048)	11/14/1998 9:52:00 AM
From: Henry Niman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

The BBRS conference call mentioned the lack of Medicare coverage, which they said represented about 1/3 of the patients and it was not covered because injections are at home and not in doctor's office, in contrast to Remicade infusions. BBRS cited an annual treatment cost for Enbrel in the $10-11,000 range, with Remicade itself costing about $6500 per year (excluding infusion costs which level the playing field as far as total treatment costs are concerned, but offer Drs an additional revenue source since they infuse the Remicade, and have an additional service to charge for). More details in the TNF Inhibitor table on the New Therapeutics page at biocognizance.com

To: Nancy who wrote (1048)	11/14/1998 12:36:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Nancy, the retail price for Enbrel and Remicade: Arthritis drug Enbrel shows long term safety: Study biz.yahoo.com Researchers said patients might find the drug [Remicade], which is given intravenously once every eight weeks, more convenient to use than Enbrel which has to be self-injected twice a week. Remicade may also be cheaper than Enbrel which will cost about $220 a week while analysts expect Remicade will cost between $96 and $156 a week.