It didn’t take long to see things were more complicated. In his early days on the job, Rivera said he recalled holding focus groups with 15-20 or more cancer physicians. The meetings typically started with a pitch about the data. “After 20-30 minutes, we’d have people shaking their heads, saying ‘Wow, we had no idea the drug was this good,’” Rivera recalls.

But there was a catch. Oncologists who saw these non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients could prescribe rituximab at an infusion center, along with chemotherapy. These doctors made money on every patient that went through their infusion center. Prescribing Bexxar meant they’d have to forgo that revenue stream, and refer the patient to a nuclear medicine pharmacy or radiation oncologist who could handle Bexxar or Zevalin.

...

If there’s a lesson here, it’s that cool science and hard medical evidence aren’t enough. When companies fail to understand the markets they are entering, the results can be quite ugly, especially as insurers tighten the screws on reimbursement. If more companies fail to pay proper attention to these issues, you can count on more promising drugs like Bexxar ending up on the industry scrap heap.