Amgen Inc's $US14,000 ($A18,000) cholesterol drug Repatha cut the risk of heart attack and stroke by over 20 per cent in patients with heart disease, but results from a highly anticipated study fell short of investor expectations and shares dropped six per cent.
The data unveiled on Friday demonstrated a clinical benefit beyond the drug's known ability to slash "bad" LDL cholesterol levels, but came in below high investor expectations. Investors were particularly disappointed that the study did not show the drug reduced deaths, analysts said.
Sales of Repatha, and its competitor Praluent from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, have been slow as insurers have been reluctant to pay for the treatment instead of standard statins that cost about $US100 per year. The new data could begin to change that.
Two of the biggest pharmacy benefit managers said on Friday that the data shows the drug improves the health of patients and that they expect prescriptions to increase.
Amgen acknowledged during a presentation for investors that it is already selling Repatha at a discount, resulting in net prices between $US7,700 to $US11,200 per annual treatment, and believes those prices represent good value.
In addition to the fall in shares of Amgen, Regeneron was down 3.4 per cent and Sanofi shares closed down 0.5 per cent in Paris. Amgen shares had been steadily rising in anticipation of this data. Results from a similar Praluent trial are expected later this year.
