Amgen
cuts price of cholesterol drug Repatha by 60 percent
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[October 25, 2018]
By Deena Beasley
(Reuters) - Amgen Inc, looking to boost use
of its potent cholesterol drug Repatha, has cut the medication's U.S.
list price by 60 percent to $5,850, the U.S. biotechnology company said
on Wednesday.
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Repatha and rival drug Praluent from partners Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals Inc and Sanofi SA were launched in 2015 at list
prices of more than $14,000 a year.
Sales of both - members of a class known as PCSK9 inhibitors that
dramatically lower bad LDL cholesterol - have been constrained by
onerous roadblocks to patient access by insurers looking to limit
spending on the expensive drugs.
Amgen's move "is clearly focused on helping patients afford the
medicine at the pharmacy counter," said Murdo Gordon, the company's
head of commercial operations.
He said the drug, which has been shown to reduce the risk of heart
attacks in high-risk patients, needs to be affordable to patients on
Medicare, the federal government's health plan for seniors.
Amgen and other drugmakers have assistance programs to cover co-pays
and deductibles for patients covered by commercial insurance, but
are barred by law from paying those costs for people on
government-funded health plans.
The new $5,850 price is in line with the current net price Amgen
gets after discounts and rebates to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)
and health insurers, said Amgen spokeswoman Kristen Davis.
In May, Regeneron and Sanofi agreed with pharmacy benefit manager
Express Scripts Holding Co to lower Praluent's price to between
$4,500 and $8,000 in exchange for easier access for patients covered
by the PBM's largest plan.
Express Scripts still lists Regeneron's drug as the preferred PCSK9
option under that plan, but said on Wednesday it may "re-evaluate
based on Amgen’s update."
“Amgen is taking an important step forward to help payers be better
positioned to provide breakthrough medicines and help people achieve
better outcomes,” Express Scripts' Chief Medical Officer Steve
Miller said in a statement.
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Amgen estimates that 75 percent of Repatha prescriptions for
Medicare patients are not filled due to high out-of-pocket costs.
Gordon said Amgen expects that with the new lower list price for
Repatha, Medicare Part D plans will list the drug with a fixed
co-pay, rather than require patients to cover a percentage of the
drug's price as most now do.
He said nearly half of the 3.4 million Americans estimated to be
eligible for treatment with Repatha are on Medicare. Currently, the
drug is being used by around 50,000 patients worldwide, Amgen said.
"In the long term it is our hope that we can address more patient
needs, leading ultimately to higher revenue," Gordon said.
Despite initial forecasts for multibillion-dollar sales, worldwide
sales of Repatha totaled just $271 million in the first half of
2018. Sales of Praluent were $134 million in the same period.
Amgen said the new list price will take affect immediately for most
Repatha sales, and said the drug sold under the original list price
will be phased out by the end of 2020 in order to limit any
disruption to existing contracts.
The company said it has been offering healthcare payers significant
rebates this year in exchange for improved patient access to Repatha.
Gordon said Amgen may continue to offer rebates to some PBMs and
insurers. "If plans are interested in moving to affordable, fixed
co-pay tiers, we are not going to be slow to respond to them," he
said.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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