Record Price Set for Roche’s HIV Drug

Switzerland’s Roche Holding on Monday priced its new HIV drug Fuzeon at a record-breaking $20,570 a year, fueling controversy about the cost of AIDS treatments.

Roche said the high cost -- more than double the cost of other HIV/AIDS drugs on the market -- reflected the complexity of manufacturing the product, which involved more than 100 steps.

Fuzeon is the first in a new class of drugs known as fusion inhibitors designed for people resistant to other AIDS medicines.

Unlike existing drugs that work inside the cell, it blocks human immunodeficiency virus from entering healthy human immune cells.

“This drug is 10 times more complex to manufacture than the next most complex class of drug in the HIV arena, which is the protease inhibitors,” said David Reddy, head of Roche’s HIV business.

The high price took industry analysts by surprise. Lehman Bros., which had expected a cost of $15,000, said the higher figure might trigger upgrades to Fuzeon sales forecasts.

“This price is clearly above our expectations and shows that the limited amount that can be produced is supposed to be sold at the highest possible price in the industrialized countries,” said Patrick Burgermeister of Zuercher Kantonalbank.

The twice-daily injection is given in combination with existing drugs and is expected to win marketing approval from regulators in Europe in the coming weeks and in the United States by March 16.