The new prices, which are aimed at improving patient access and curbing high costs for the U.S. consumers.
Sanofi SA, along with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., has reportedly cut down on the price of Praluent, their potent cholesterol drug, by 60% in an effort to help it obtain traction in the medicine market. Apparently, the latest move by the drug-makers follows a similar move by its competitor Amgen Inc., an American biotech company.
Reuters reported that the new list price of Praluent has been dropped to $5,850 per year, in competition with the lowered price that Amgen set for its drug Repatha. This is apparent in Praluent’s 60% drop in the original price for the two doses, 75 mg and 150 mg. The new prices, which are aimed at improving patient access and curbing high costs for the U.S. consumers, are anticipated to come up in early March, added sources.
For the record, both Praluent and Repatha hail from a group of PCSK9 inhibitors, injectable biotech drugs, that help in effectively lowering bad LDL cholesterol and thereby reduce the risks of cardiac arrests and death. However, sales of both the drugs have been restrained due to onerous barriers to patient access, put up by insurers intending to constrict expenditure on costly drugs. The drugs had been approved in 2015 and was priced at $14,000 a year of supply.
Michelle Carnahan, Sanofi’s Head of Primary Care Business Unit, was reported saying that the company saw improvements in accessibility after its collaboration with the payers last year for providing more affordable and direct access to Praluent. Michelle further revealed that the company has now presented Praluent at a price slashed by approximately 60%, and further hopes that the payers do good on their part to ensure savings to more customers.
Sanofi and Regeneron currently claim that with the newer pricing, most patients of Medicare Part D are likely to pay between $25 and $150 every month, that accounts for a savings of about $345, while, eligible patients will continue having access to the co-pay assistance through MyPraluent.
