Elinzanetant is a single-symptom drug for women with numerous symptoms due to menopause (hot flashes, vaginal atrophy and painful intercourse, osteoporosis, mood changes, trouble sleeping, skin/hair issues and more).
-Elinzanetant is a second-in-class medication where the first to market (Veozah) isn’t being used (entire regions have only sold a few dozen scripts).
-The market leader (estrogen) is the most efficacious for the condition and is a super cheap generic but also addresses the other symptoms and risks of menopause with minimal side effects.
-It appears as though Bayer is pigeonholing it for those who can’t or won’t take estrogen but that’s a small market that OBGYN’s think should be even smaller because estrogen is safe for a huge number of those patients. Bayer’s own press release says OBGYNs are using hormones in breast cancer patients The Menopause Society Annual Meeting 2023: Bayer to present latest real-world evidence of menopausal symptoms and their treatment — Business Wire
If it’s priced low to entice insurance companies to cover it, it won’t make money. If it’s priced high to make money, insurance companies won’t cover it. And that’s all BEFORE doctors vote overwhelmingly against it with their script pads. The drug is COMPLETELY dead in the water, just like every other non-hormonal product that WH companies have tried to launch in the past decade that also billed themselves as “billion dollar a year drugs” that failed miserably. In fact, I don’t think any have cumulatively earned a billion dollars in revenue.
If anyone is counting on elinzanetant to do anything but hemorrhage cash, they’re delusional. OBGYN’s are trained to believe that estrogen is the only solution post-menopausal women need, except in a few cases, and even in those cases they’re skeptical and often use it anyway. Bayer is angling for those cases but they’ll also need them to be situations where patients are WILLING to do something about their hot flashes and most women aren’t (just ask Brisdelle reps, if you can find one).
Oh, and god help us if there are brutal side effects, drug interactions or any class labeling.
-Elinzanetant is a second-in-class medication where the first to market (Veozah) isn’t being used (entire regions have only sold a few dozen scripts).
-The market leader (estrogen) is the most efficacious for the condition and is a super cheap generic but also addresses the other symptoms and risks of menopause with minimal side effects.
-It appears as though Bayer is pigeonholing it for those who can’t or won’t take estrogen but that’s a small market that OBGYN’s think should be even smaller because estrogen is safe for a huge number of those patients. Bayer’s own press release says OBGYNs are using hormones in breast cancer patients The Menopause Society Annual Meeting 2023: Bayer to present latest real-world evidence of menopausal symptoms and their treatment — Business Wire
If it’s priced low to entice insurance companies to cover it, it won’t make money. If it’s priced high to make money, insurance companies won’t cover it. And that’s all BEFORE doctors vote overwhelmingly against it with their script pads. The drug is COMPLETELY dead in the water, just like every other non-hormonal product that WH companies have tried to launch in the past decade that also billed themselves as “billion dollar a year drugs” that failed miserably. In fact, I don’t think any have cumulatively earned a billion dollars in revenue.
If anyone is counting on elinzanetant to do anything but hemorrhage cash, they’re delusional. OBGYN’s are trained to believe that estrogen is the only solution post-menopausal women need, except in a few cases, and even in those cases they’re skeptical and often use it anyway. Bayer is angling for those cases but they’ll also need them to be situations where patients are WILLING to do something about their hot flashes and most women aren’t (just ask Brisdelle reps, if you can find one).
Oh, and god help us if there are brutal side effects, drug interactions or any class labeling.