NEW YORK (Reuters) – Drugmaker AbbVie Inc priced its new endometriosis drug Orilissa at around $10,000 a year after receiving approval from U.S. regulators for the treatment on Tuesday.
Orilissa was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the management of moderate to severe pain associated with endometriosis. The company, along with partner Neurocrine Biosciences Inc, released positive Phase III results for the drug for treatment of uterine fibroids.
AbbVie expects the drug to eventually be a multibillion-dollar product, it said, generating $1 billion to $2 billion a year just from endometriosis. Analysts have forecast the drug to top $1 billion in revenue by 2022, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The company said it will price the drug at $844.87 per month.
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a drug pricing watchdog group, said that Orilissa will deliver value to patients at AbbVie’s announced price.
Still, while the drug may be cost-effective in the long-term, the price of the treatment could challenge short-term budgets given the large number of women affected by endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a painful condition that affects women during their reproductive years and is caused by the growth of the tissue lining the uterus in other parts of the abdomen outside of the uterus, such as the ovaries. Symptoms of endometriosis include severe pelvic pain, heavy menstrual periods and nausea.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
