Roche CEO Responds To Questions Regarding Pricing for Fuzeon
The Newark Star-Ledger today features an interview with Roche CEO Franz Humer regarding the controversy surrounding the company's pricing of its antiretroviral drug Fuzeon (Silverman, Newark Star-Ledger, 3/5). Last week, Roche announced that the drug, which is designed for HIV patients who have failed to respond to other medications, will cost $20,385 per year in Europe, more than double the price of the most expensive AIDS treatments on the market. Roche said that a complex manufacturing process, which requires 106 chemical reactions, more than 10 times the number for most other antiretroviral drugs, accounts for the "unusually high" cost of producing the drug. The company is not expected to announce the U.S. market price until the drug receives FDA approval, which is expected to come next month (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/24). The interview is available online.
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