Why being the first drug to market matters

How it happens:

• Eli Lilly, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Alder Biopharmaceuticals are each coming out with their own versions of similar medications.
• Amgen set the list price of Aimovig at $6,900 annually (an amount that doesn’t reflect discounts or rebates), which was about 30% less than what Wall Street expected, per Damian Garde at STAT.
• “The first-mover advantage for (Amgen and Novartis) will allow for them to frame the payer discussions and gain initial traction in the marketplace,” Vamil Divan of Credit Suisse wrote to investors.
• Amgen will “ultimately retain 35–40% market share long-term” because it was first, and could lead to $1.8 billion of peak annual sales, Geoffrey Porges of Leerink Partners said in an investor note.

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