Disease That Doesn't Exist? Enter Ticker Symbol or Company ... · is what Horizant/gabapentin...
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CBS News / CBS Evening News / CBS This Morning / 48 Hours / 60 Minutes / Sunday Morning / Face The Nation / CBSN Log In Markets Markets Money Money Work Work Small Business Small Business Retirement Retirement Tech Tech Trending Trending Video Video By JIM EDWARDS / MONEYWATCH / April 12, 2011, 12:54 PM Can Glaxo Make $1.2B Treating a Disease That Doesn't Exist? Last Updated Apr 12, 2011 12:54 PM EDT At first glance, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s new drug for Restless Legs Syndrome makes no sense at all. The medicine Horizant will only cannibalize sales of Requip, another drug for RLS that GSK launched in 2005. Requip eked out $361 million in sales last year. Not a blockbuster, sure, but a respectable business nonetheless. Why would GSK want to put that at risk? One possible explanation -- and this is mere speculation on my part -- is that GSK is not, in fact, all that interested in treating restless legs. Rather, it's hoping for off-label sales for Parkinson's Disease and seizure disorders, which is where the big money is when it comes to drugs that are approved for RLS, a disease that many believe doesn't actually exist. Both Requip and the other drug approved for RLS, Mirapex, are also approved to treat Parkinson's. Mirapex is best-known as a Parkinson's drug, in fact. Its maker, Boehringer Ingelheim, is privately held and thus Mirapex sales numbers are hard to come by. But in 2008 Mirapex may have made $477 million in revenues. The other head-scratcher about Horizant (which used to be called Solzira) is that it will face competition from cheaper, generic versions of Requip -- often the kiss of death in the drug business. GSK's logic here seems to be that because Horizant (gabapentin enacarbil) is a different chemical from Requip (ropinirole) it can convince doctors, pharmacy benefit managers and insurers that it is superior and/or different to Requip, and therefore worthy of reimbursement at a higher price. Gaba-gaba-hey! But then you have to consider that as a variant of gabapentin, Horizant will face even stiffer competition from cheap versions of Neurontin, the king of generic gabas, which treats seizure disorders, pain, and a "witch's brew" of other off-label conditions. And this, I think, is where GSK sees an opportunity. In addition to back-door sales from Parkinson's users, GSK may also get some add-on sales from doctors looking to give patients an extended release version of plain-jane Neurontin. Because that / Shares / Tweets / Stumble / Email More + Watch CBSN Live Watch CBS News anytime, anywhere Market Data Enter Ticker Symbol or Company Name NASDAQ: Oct 20, 2015 Symbol Last Change % Change DOW 17,230.54 +14.57 +0.08% NASDAQ 4,905.47 +18.78 +0.38% S&P 500 115.48 -1,917.63 -94.32% Can Glaxo Make $1.2B Treating a Disease That Doesn't Exist?... http://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-glaxo-make-12b-treating-... 1 di 4 20/10/15 15:38
Transcript of Disease That Doesn't Exist? Enter Ticker Symbol or Company ... · is what Horizant/gabapentin...
CBS News / CBS Evening News / CBS This Morning / 48 Hours / 60 Minutes / Sunday Morning / Face The Nation / CBSN Log In
MarketsMarkets MoneyMoney WorkWork Small BusinessSmall Business RetirementRetirement TechTech TrendingTrending VideoVideo
By JIM EDWARDS / MONEYWATCH / April 12, 2011, 12:54 PM
Can Glaxo Make $1.2B Treating aDisease That Doesn't Exist?
Last Updated Apr 12, 2011 12:54 PM EDT
At first glance, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s new drug forRestless Legs Syndrome makes no sense at all. The medicine Horizant will onlycannibalize sales of Requip, another drug for RLS that GSK launched in 2005.Requip eked out $361 million in sales last year. Not a blockbuster, sure, but arespectable business nonetheless. Why would GSK want to put that at risk?
One possible explanation -- and this is mere speculation on my part -- is that GSKis not, in fact, all that interested in treating restless legs. Rather, it's hoping foroff-label sales for Parkinson's Disease and seizure disorders, which is where thebig money is when it comes to drugs that are approved for RLS, a disease thatmany believe doesn't actually exist.
Both Requip and the other drug approved for RLS, Mirapex, are also approved totreat Parkinson's. Mirapex is best-known as a Parkinson's drug, in fact. Its maker,Boehringer Ingelheim, is privately held and thus Mirapex sales numbers arehard to come by. But in 2008 Mirapex may have made $477 million in revenues.
The other head-scratcher about Horizant (which used to be called Solzira) is that itwill face competition from cheaper, generic versions of Requip -- often the kiss ofdeath in the drug business. GSK's logic here seems to be that because Horizant(gabapentin enacarbil) is a different chemical from Requip (ropinirole) it canconvince doctors, pharmacy benefit managers and insurers that it is superiorand/or different to Requip, and therefore worthy of reimbursement at a higherprice.
Gaba-gaba-hey!But then you have to consider that as a variant of gabapentin, Horizant will faceeven stiffer competition from cheap versions of Neurontin, the king of genericgabas, which treats seizure disorders, pain, and a "witch's brew" of other off-labelconditions.
And this, I think, is where GSK sees an opportunity. In addition to back-door salesfrom Parkinson's users, GSK may also get some add-on sales from doctors lookingto give patients an extended release version of plain-jane Neurontin. Because that
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Market Data
Enter Ticker Symbol or Company Name
NASDAQ: Oct 20, 2015
Symbol Last Change % Change
DOW 17,230.54 +14.57 +0.08%
NASDAQ 4,905.47 +18.78 +0.38%
S&P 500 115.48 -1,917.63 -94.32%
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is what Horizant/gabapentin enacarbil actually is -- an extended release version ofgabapentin with twice the bioavailability of the original drug. The sales case forthat type of product is much more promising than an RLS treatment. In 2008,years after Neurontin went generic, Pfizer (PFE) still earned $387 million fromthe drug.
Put those numbers together -- Requip's $361 million in sales, Mirapex's $477million and Neurontin's $387 million -- and you have a drug category worth about$1.2 billion.
Now we are talking real money -- very little of it in restless legs.
Related:GlaxoSmithKline Bets Solzira Can Win Where Requip FailedPfizer's Illegal Drug Promotion Had a "Kick Ass" Effect on Sales, ChartsShowPowerPoint Fail: Pfizer Slideshow Depicts Neurontin as a Witch's BrewLesson From Pfizer: Don't Describe Your Product as "Snake Oil" in InternalEmail
Image by Flickr user AA, CC.© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
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