Pfizer’s Retacrit undercuts rivals

Pfizer has launched its Retacrit (epoetin alfa-epbx) biosimilar in the US – the first US biosimilar rival to the Procrit and Epogen epoetin alfa brands for treating anaemia – at a price that undercuts these versions by around three-fifths and more than a third respectively. Highlighting the “substantial discount” represented by Retacrit’s wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of US$11.03 per 1,000 units/ml, Pfizer noted that this was 57.1% below US$25.72 for Procrit and 33.5% less than US$16.58 for Epogen. Pfizer has a US marketing tie-up with Vifor for Retacrit “in certain channels”.