A Case Study on Angiomax and Heparin as Blood Thinners

Quantifiable Value of Angiomax to The Hospitals

The Company Believes It Can Sell Angiomax For a Much Higher Price Than Heparin But How Much More?

Consider The Following Questions When Reading The Case. Bring Your Notes To Class As To How You Arrived At a Recommended Price. ? What Is The Quantifiable Value Of Angiomax To a Hospital?

What Factors Might Affect The Adoption Of Angiomax Above And Beyond The Quantifiable Value?

What Is Not Quantifiable In The Hospital Decision Making Process That Might Affect Adoption Of Angiomax?) Will This Be An Easy Sell Or a Tough Sell? Why?

What Price Should The Medicines Company Charge For a Dose Of Angiomax? Why? 

Angiomax is a blood thinning drug which is of great importance during the time of heart procedures and also during angioplasties. In this regard, it needs to be said that over the years the drug Heparin had been used by the healthcare professionals during heart procedures and also during angioplasties however the uncertainty, adverse reactions and also the high risk of bleeding associated with the usage of this particular drug are something which does not make it an ideal blood thinning drug. Furthermore, it is seen that the drug Angiomax overcomes all these issues and thus the developers of the concerned drug are hoping to sell it at a higher price or cost in comparison to Heparin because of the value or for that matter the benefits offered by it.  

As per the case study, the Heparin drug is being sold by its manufacturers for $2 per vial and according to an estimate around 3.5 million patients every year are being given this particular drug by the healthcare professionals within the different hospitals or the healthcare organizations. However, because of the side-effects of the concerned drug and also on the score of the ineffectiveness of the drug in some of the critical cases it had been seen that more than 500,000 had to die. On the other hand, the different healthcare professionals had the opportunity to overcome these adverse effects or for that matter the side-effects through the usage of the Angiomax drug despite the fact that the manufacturers of the concerned drug have decided to fix a higher price for the concerned drug. An analysis of the cost related to the usage of the same by the healthcare professionals within the hospitals in comparison to Heparin is given below

Factors Affecting The Adoption of Angiomax

The above table clearly indicates the fact that if the hospitals take the help of the Angiomax drug over Heparin then the cost that they would have spend for treating 3.5 million patients would be around $900,000 in comparison to the $700,000 that they would have to spend for the same number of patients. This means that the hospitals would have to spend additional amount of money for the usage of the drug Angiomax for offering the required treatment services to the patients. However, at the same time it needs to be said that the usage of this particular drug by the hospitals would not only save the lives of numerous people but would also improve the quality of care which is being offered by them since it would substantially reduce the side-effects or for that matter the adverse effects faced by the patients. For instance, it had been seen that the hospitals need to spend additional amount of capital for helping the patients to overcome the negative effects or the side-effects that they incur because of the administration of heparin. In the light of these aspects, it can be said that the adequate usage of the drug Angiomax as a blood thinner is likely to offer immense quantifiable value to the hospitals and also to the patients.   

There are various factors which are likely to influence the hospitals as well as the healthcare professionals to opt for the usage of the drug Angiomax for the purpose of offering the required treatment services to them. In this relation, it needs to be said that over the years in the absence of any adequate or for that matter suitable blood thinning drugs, the healthcare professionals as well as the hospitals had to take the help of the drug Heparin. It is true that the concerned drug offered various benefits during heart surgeries and others yet the negative effects of the same like uncertainty, high bleeding and others adversely affect the health conditions of the patients and thus there are many healthcare professionals who do not like to use the same. It is precisely these factors which are likely to influence the healthcare professionals as well as the hospitals to use Angiomax over Heparin. Furthermore, the relative merit of angiomax over heparin is being outlined by the below given figure-

Figure 1: Relative merit of Angiomax over Heparin

Price That The Medicines Company Charge for a Dose of Angiomax

Clearly indicates that the death, heart attack, repeat angioplasty and major bleeding risks associated with the usage of the drug angiomax are much lower than that of the usage of heparin. It is precisely these factors which are likely to influence the hospitals as well as the healthcare professionals to take the help of angiomax over heparin for administering the required treatment services to the patients. More importantly, it had been seen that because of the side effects or for that matter the ineffectiveness of the drug heparin more than 500,000 patients had to lose their life and also the health condition of numerous patients because of the usage of the same. However, no such negative connotations or for that matter side effects are associated with the usage of angiomax and this in turn is one of the most important reasons which is likely to influence the healthcare professionals as well as the hospitals to take the help of this particular drug rather than heparin during heart surgeries, angioplasty and others.   

The case study under discussion here “The Medicines Company” clearly indicates that the cost of production of angiomax is very high and thus it is not possible for the manufacturers of the concerned drug to sell it a lower price than heparin. Furthermore, it is likely that because of the merits of the concerned drug or for that matter the benefits that it offers to the patients, it is going to be used by the healthcare professionals and the hospitals even if the price of this particular drug is higher than similar blood thinning drugs like heparin and others. Thus, the manufacturers of the concerned drug need to be fixed the base price of the drug at around $3 per vial. This will ensure the fact that the manufacturers of the drug under discussion here would not have to face any significant losses while the patients would also be able to afford the same as well.    

Conclusion

To conclude, the usage of the drug angiomax is likely to offer various kinds of benefits to the patients especially the ones heart surgeries, angioplasty and others. As a matter of fact, clinical tests have revealed the fact that because of the usage of this particular blood thinning drug the patients do not have to experience the kind of side effects or for that matter the negative connotations like the uncertainty, high bleeding and others that they had to face on the score of the usage of the drug heparin. However, at the same time it had been seen that the cost of production or for that matter the cost of manufacture of the blood thinning drug under discussion here is way higher than that of heparin and thus the manufacturers of the concerned drug need to fix the price of angiomax higher than that of heparin. More importantly, the manufacturers need to fix the price of the concerned drug in such a manner that they would not incur any significant losses on the score of the same and also the patients would be able to afford the same as well.