Merck & Co. Discounts Remicade in U.K. as Copies Enter
- Merck responds to competition from Napp, Hospira's copies
- Biosimilars are hurting sales of blockbuster arthritis drug
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Merck & Co. is dropping the price of its blockbuster arthritis medicine Remicade by 25 percent in the U.K. through discounts and rebates to retain market share after cheaper copies became available in February.
Merck is offering 48 million pounds ($74 million) in discounts and rebates to the U.K.’s National Health Service on the basis of about 191 million pounds in Remicade sales, the drugmaker’s Medical Affairs Director Colin Wheeler said in an interview Thursday. South Korea’s Celltrion Inc., maker of a biosimilar version of Remicade, in February published a budget impact analysis for discounts of up to 30 percent. Napp Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Pfizer Inc.’s Hospira unit market Celltrion’s drug in the U.K.