After putting two generics together and then getting the product approved for a new indication, NitroMed priced its new drug above expectations. But will the old-style pricing strategy hold up in a managed care world?

Mispricing in Europe--pricing the new therapy too high compared to perceived incremental value than the older therapy--has been a key reason that new classes of drugs haven't achieved their volume objectives. Successful follow-on classes like statins and proton pump inhibitors have kept their European prices relatively close to the costs of the previous therapies; less successful ones, like the glitazones, have not.

Pain relief product sales grew 27% and upper respiratory sales 35% for the week ended 7 March as consumers respond to COVID-19, according to Nielsen data noted in a Jefferies report on consumer health purchasing trends. Private label market share is up slightly, while OTC purchases continue primarily in conventional stores.