The Wall Street Journal-20080116-Home -amp- Family- NitroMed Halts Sale of Drug
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Home & Family: NitroMed Halts Sale of Drug
NitroMed Inc. is shutting down its effort to market and sell BiDil, the first drug approved for use in a single racial group.
BiDil entered the market in 2005 to great fanfare after it was cleared as a congestive heart failure treatment for African-Americans. But the rollout of BiDil was stalled by insurers concerned about its price and doctors who were skeptical that the drug, a branded combination of two generic drugs, was an improvement. Others complained the lackluster sales of BiDil were evidence of continuing racial gaps in the health-care system.
NitroMed, of Lexington, Mass., said it was discontinuing sales and promotional activities and eliminating 70 of the 90 jobs at the company. The company said it will continue to make BiDil available for patients. It also has retained investment-banking firm Cowen & Co. to advise it on strategic alternatives.
NitroMed is still trying to develop a new version of BiDil, one that is taken once a day rather than three times. It said it has received positive reaction to the new formulation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, approval of a new formulation is still years away.
Jane Kramer, NitroMed's vice president of corporate affairs, said most insurers no longer balk at reimbursement but that the company simply lacks the size to market the drug. "To keep it going we need more feet on the ground," she said.
BiDil has never come close to initial sales projections. Analysts predicted sales of $130 million in 2006, but actual sales came in at $12.1 million. BiDil sales were on track for moderate gains last year, with revenue from the drug at $11 million through the first nine months of 2007.
The company made its announcement after the close of the market. NitroMed shares were down 12 cents to 90 cents as of 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.
