|
 Ticagrelor 60 mg -- sold in Britain as Brilique for just under 1
pound ($1.30) a pill -- could help "many thousands of people" when
given twice a day alongside aspirin, the National Institute for
Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said.
In the United States, the wholesale acquisition cost is $5.14 a
pill, although most U.S. patients are eligible for savings programs.
A higher 90 mg dose of Brilique is already recommended for 12 months
after a heart attack. Now new NICE draft guidance supports continued
use at a lower dose for a further three years to reduce the risk of
fresh heart attacks or strokes.
The drug is an important driver of future sales for AstraZeneca,
which believes it can eventually sell $3.5 billion a year. Global
sales in the first half of 2016 were $395 million.
The low-dose version of the medicine was recommended for long-term
use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2015 and
by European authorities in February 2016.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Keith Weir)
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