One way to win the drug pricing news cycle

It must be frustrating for drug companies. You’ve toiled for years on a new therapy and finally convinced regulators to let you sell it. Then, on the day you tell the world about your triumph, all they want to talk about is the drug’s price.

One way around that: Don’t tell them. On Monday, Bluebird Bio won European approval for its gene therapy, meant to treat a rare blood disorder. But if you want to know how much it will cost, you’ll need to wait until next week — ditto if you want to write a headline containing a sizable dollar figure. (We asked Bluebird why, and, in a statement, the company said it wanted "to have the comprehensive discussion about launch and all related topics, including price, at one time.")

It’s not a new phenomenon. Neurocrine Biosciences, Tesaro, and othershave in the past decoupled their approval announcements from pricing disclosures. But whether doing so has any measurable impact on how people react to the cost is anyone’s guess.