Efalizumab earns FDA nod to join psoriasis Tx race: $14,000 annual cost: the biologic can be self-administered and is being offered as a pharmacy benefit.

Publication: Skin & Allergy News

Publication Date: 01-DEC-03

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COPYRIGHT 2003 International Medical News Group

The Food and Drug Administrations approval of efalizumab expands the list of biologic agents for treating psoriasis and could offer patients and physicians a more user-friendly option, some dermatologists say.

Efalizumab can be self-administered by patients who are comfortable giving themselves a subcutaneous injection, and the biologic is being provided as a pharmacy benefit, not as a medical benefit.

In late October, the FDA approved efalizumab for treating chronic, moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults aged 18 years and older who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. The approved dosage of the recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody is 1 mg/kg, administered subcutaneously once a week.

Marketed under the trade name Raptiva, efalizumab was expected to be available by the end of November.

Efalizumab's wholesale acquisition cost is about $274 per vial, which adds up to approximately $14,000/year for the average patient who uses a once-weekly injection, according to a spokeswoman for Genentech, which is marketing the drug with the biotech company Xoma. Genentech is working with four specialty pharmacies that will dispense efalizumab, as will appropriate pharmacy benefit managers and wholesalers, she said.

The annual cost of efalizumab treatment is less than that of two 12-week courses of alefacept (Amevive), which in January became the first biologic approved for psoriasis. Alefacept's annual...

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