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Amgen Earnings Reveals Ugly Truth About Drug Pricing and Sales 'Growth'
BOSTON (TheStreet) -- On Tuesday night's first-quarter earnings call, Amgen (AMGN ) said Enbrel sales totaled $1.1 billion, or 13% higher than the year-ago quarter. Enbrel is an old rheumatoid arthritis drug (it received U.S. approval in 1998) so generating low-teens sales growth after all these years is pretty impressive, right?
It is, until you examine how Amgen delivered those first-quarter Enbrel sales. A closer look reveals an ugly truth about how drug companies sometimes generate sales "growth" for mature drugs. The fact is that Enbrel isn't being used by more patients. The drug just costs more. A lot more.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic condition, and so too are the regular, consistent price increases Amgen relies upon to keep Enbrel sales growing.
The price and pricing of prescription drugs has come under intense scrutiny recently, so it seems only a matter of time before critics start to ask questions like, "Amgen, you keep raising the price of Enbrel without making any improvements to the drug. Why should rheumatoid arthritis patients and their insurance companies pay more for the same benefit?"
The 13% increase in first quarter Enbrel sales was driven mostly by a 19% increase in the drug's price. Unit volume -- the amount of Enbrel actual sold in the quarter -- fell 2%. Excluding the price hike and inventory increase, Enbrel sales would have dropped 8% year over year.
BOSTON (TheStreet) -- On Tuesday night's first-quarter earnings call, Amgen (AMGN ) said Enbrel sales totaled $1.1 billion, or 13% higher than the year-ago quarter. Enbrel is an old rheumatoid arthritis drug (it received U.S. approval in 1998) so generating low-teens sales growth after all these years is pretty impressive, right?
It is, until you examine how Amgen delivered those first-quarter Enbrel sales. A closer look reveals an ugly truth about how drug companies sometimes generate sales "growth" for mature drugs. The fact is that Enbrel isn't being used by more patients. The drug just costs more. A lot more.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic condition, and so too are the regular, consistent price increases Amgen relies upon to keep Enbrel sales growing.
The price and pricing of prescription drugs has come under intense scrutiny recently, so it seems only a matter of time before critics start to ask questions like, "Amgen, you keep raising the price of Enbrel without making any improvements to the drug. Why should rheumatoid arthritis patients and their insurance companies pay more for the same benefit?"
The 13% increase in first quarter Enbrel sales was driven mostly by a 19% increase in the drug's price. Unit volume -- the amount of Enbrel actual sold in the quarter -- fell 2%. Excluding the price hike and inventory increase, Enbrel sales would have dropped 8% year over year.