AIDS drug sales fall; price rises

Sales of Trimeris' AIDS drug Fuzeon are on the decline, but its price is on the rise.

The Durham company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that the wholesale price of a one-year supply of Fuzeon has been increased by 3 percent. The new price: $30,600.

Trimeris noted that the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, which markets the drug, has sole responsibility for setting the price. Patients often pay less than the wholesale price because of manufacturers' discounts and rebates.

The new price is 50 percent higher than the cost of a year's supply for Fuzeon when it was introduced in 2003.

Fuzeon sales have been dwindling because of its high price, its side effects and the availability of newer drugs.

For all of 2009, Fuzeon sales totaled $112.2 million, down 33 percent from 2008. Trimeris receives royalty fees on the sales of the drug, which is the company's only product.

Staff writer David Ranii