|
 An insulin pill, saving diabetics from daily injections, has long
been seen as the "holy grail" of diabetes care, yet the Danish group
announced last month it was throwing in the towel after several
years of work.
"We actually made a phenomenal scientific achievement in
demonstrating to ourselves it is possible to have an insulin
tablet," Chief Executive Lars Rebien Sorensen told an industry
conference.
"The problem is that in the reimbursement market we are now facing
it is unlikely that such a tablet could be made available at a price
that would be acceptable to the payers."
Novo's decision to scrap the insulin pill program came as the
company slashed its long-term profit growth forecast due to falling
U.S. insulin prices, sending its shares into a tailspin.
Delivering a protein like insulin as a pill is hard because it risks
being destroyed in the stomach. Novo scientists overcame this
obstacle to a degree but still needed to deliver around 50 times
more insulin in a tablet than in an injection, to ensure a
sufficient dose.
As a result, the insulin pill in development would have needed to
cost far more than a standard injection.
While a big premium for convenience might have been commercially
viable once in the lucrative U.S. market, it would not be viable
today, given the squeeze on prices by pharmacy benefit managers, who
administer drug programs for health plans.
Sorensen said the tablet concept, which is also being pursued by
Israel's Oramed Pharmaceuticals, might yet be revisited by Novo if
its scientists found a way to make a cheaper version needing less
insulin.
The decision is part of a wider move by Novo to pull back from
high-risk research with uncertain returns.
"We have amended our research strategy by discontinuing a number of
projects that we assess are difficult to commercialize in an
environment where there's focus on healthcare costs and payer
pressure on us," Sorensen told Reuters, after addressing the
Financial Times conference.
[to top of second column] |
Sorensen, who will step down as CEO in six weeks after 16 years at
the helm, has presided over Novo's rise to become the most valuable
company in the Nordic region. But 2016 has been punishing final
year, with the company's shares tumbling 42 percent amid growing
U.S. pricing fears.
Despite the setback in oral insulin, Novo still has high hopes for
another pill, this time an oral version of a GLP-1 class of medicine
that stimulates insulin production in the pancreas.
Injectable forms of GLP-1, led by Novo's Victoza, are already
well-established and a pill could allow them to be given to patients
earlier and more widely.
Significantly, the amount of GLP-1 drug needed in a pill is not that
much greater than in an injection, so Sorensen believes an oral
version could be viable if priced around the same level as a GLP-1
injection.
If all goes well, an oral form of Novo's next-generation GLP-1
semaglutide could reach the market around 2020. Novo is investing
$1.85 billion in a factory in Clayton, North Carolina that will make
oral semaglutide and other products.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
