Gilberto Lopes, Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, shared a post on X:
“I have published more than 300 articles in my career, but this was my first opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. Recent commentary suggests that market competition alone is driving down prices of GLP-1 receptor agonists. Experience from oncology offers a sobering counterpoint. When multiple biologics targeting the same pathways-such as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors-entered the U.S. market, meaningful price erosion never followed, despite overlapping indications and similar efficacy.
Competition occurred through marketing, incremental trials, and label expansion-not pricing. Pharmaceutical markets are inherently imperfect, and heavily intervened on. Patents and exclusivity reward innovation, but without deliberate mechanisms to promote post-exclusivity competition, monopolistic pricing can persist.
GLP-1 therapies share key features with oncology biologics: complex manufacturing, branded delivery systems, and strong prescriber and patient loyalty. Absent rebate reform, transparent net pricing, or accelerated biosimilar substitution, true price competition for GLP-1s is unlikely to be durable. Early price declines may reflect short-term positioning rather than structural change. Balancing innovation with affordability isn’t anti-market-it’s essential to keeping the market credible, functional, and socially sustainable.”
More posts featuring Gilberto Lopes on OncoDaily.