Teva’s launch makes it the first competitor to Revlimid in the United States, but perhaps not the last.
Teva Pharmaceuticals on Monday launched lenalidomide capsules, the generic of Revlimid, in the United States. The capsules are available in 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg, and 25 mg strengths, according to a statement from the company.
Lenalidomide is used in regimens to treat multiple myeloma, mantle cell lymphoma, and certain myelodysplastic syndromes. Bristol Myers Squibb’s Revlimid, developed by Celgene, was a long-time money maker—the statement from Teva cited IQVIA data that put annual sales at $2.3 billion, although some reports put the 2021 figure well above that.
Revlimid’s pricing history—and the corporate strategy to keep competitors at bay—made it a poster child for why drug pricing has become a bipartisan policy issue. In a 2018 report, National Public Radio profiled patient David Miller, who founded a patient advocacy organization after watching the price of Revlimid double from $8000 to $16,691 per month when he took it from 2010 to 2016.
Meanwhile, the Medicare co-pay rose from $115 to $690 per month, according to information HHS released at the time.
“The launch of our first generic version of Revlimid in the US provides patients with another important treatment option for these extremely challenging conditions, demonstrating Teva’s commitment to making complex generic drugs available to the patients who need them,” Christine Baeder, chief operating officer, US Generics, Teva USA, said in the statement. “This product adds to our broad generic portfolio of oncology treatments, which accounts for 73% of the essential medicines in this category, as defined by the World Health Organization.”
Teva’s launch makes it the first competitor to Revlimid in the United States, but perhaps not the last. The news comes as other generics manufacturers have announced plans for their own versions of lenalidomide in Europe.
Cencora Analysis Shows Differences in Payer Coverage Between G-CSF Biosimilars
May 2nd 2024Data from a Cencora study showed some misalignment in payer coverage of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) biosimilars, highlighting that while filgrastim biosimilars are often favored over the originator, reference pegfilgrastim still dominates over its biosimilars.
A New Chapter: How 2023 Will Shape the US Biosimilar Space for 2024 and Beyond
December 31st 2023On this episode of Not So Different, Cencora's Brian Biehn and Corey Ford take a look back at major policy and regulatory advancements in 2023 and how these changes will alter the space going forward.
AON Saves Over $243 Million With High Biosimilar Adoption
April 22nd 2024Thanks to high biosimilar adoption rates within the community oncology setting, American Oncology Network (AON) saved upwards of $243 million between 2020 and 2023, according to a presentation at the Festival of Biologics USA conference in San Diego, California.
Study: More Biosimilar Competition Is Not Lowering Patient OOP Costs
March 29th 2024Despite more biosimilars entering the market and generating significant savings for payers and health care systems, these savings are not resulting in lower out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for patients, according to a recent study.