BioMarin prices hemophilia gene therapy at nearly 29,000 euros per vial in Germany
Nov 28 (Reuters) - BioMarin Pharmaceutical said on Tuesday it will price its therapy for severe hemophilia A at 28,933.53 euros ($31,725.62) per vial for insurers covering a majority of the population in Germany, Europe's largest pharmaceutical market.
The company has fixed the reimbursement amount for the therapy, Roctavian, with the German National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds, Germany's primary public health insurance body.
The European Union's drug regulator had given conditional approval for the gene therapy in June last year, making it the first such treatment for the most common form of hemophilia.
Roctavian is intended to be a single-time therapy delivered through the veins over three to four hours. Existing alternatives include regular blood infusions throughout a patient's lifetime or monthly doses of Roche's antibody drug Hemlibra.
Biomarin estimates the price would equate to $900,000 per patient in net revenue, the company said. The estimate is based on average patient weight and number of vials required for the one-time treatment, with reductions for customary rebates and discounts factored in.
The fixed pricing becomes a reference point for private insurers and other healthcare agencies in Europe.
The German reimbursement price is lower than expected, but "sets Roctavian up to be a potentially meaningful product in Europe, again in the backdrop of relatively low investor expectations for uptake," Stifel analyst Paul Matteis said in a note on Tuesday.
Roctavian's list price in the United States is $2.9 million per patient.
The therapy works by delivering a functional copy of the missing gene that would help hemophilia A patients make a blood-clotting protein known as factor VIII. ($1 = 0.9120 euros) (Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
