New Treatment Approved in the US

[saidinstouch]

So Cimzia was finally approved here in the US. We've discussed it before as it is another of the TNF-alpha inhibitors. It is formulated to have a longer clearance time through their pegylation process so that it supposedly takes 1 shot a month instead of 2 like humira.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042201961.html

 

[BWS1982]

The more options the better.....who knows when they'll need to be looked at.

 

[Kev]

Has anyone ballparked the price.... sort of as an FYI for folks with no insurance..???

 

[saidinstouch]

It is probably comparable to humira since it is a self-injectable picked up through the pharmacy. My copay is $60 a month for the Humira, so I would assume somewhere in that vicinity depending if it is distributed 1 or 2 pens at a time. This is just my speculation of course, but it seems fairly logical.

 

[Kev]

hmmm, well, I've heard w/o insurance Humira treatments are about $9600 US. Course, I could be mistaken, may have mis-interpreted that 2nd hand info. It's a moot point... whether it was $9600, or $960, its' still way out of my league

 

[saidinstouch]

the $960 sounds more correct per shot. My Walgreens receipt tells me that my insurance saves me somewhere in the ballpark of $1800, so its like $900 per shot, at least if I were to not have insurance.