With Boehringer Ingelheim’s announcement earlier this month that it was capping U.S. inhaler costs at $35 per month, AstraZeneca on Monday followed suit.
Pictured: AstraZeneca office building in Shanghai/iStock/Robert Way iStock/Robert Way
AstraZeneca announced Monday that it plans to expand its U.S. savings programs to its inhaled respiratory portfolio and cap the out-of-pocket expenses to $35 per month. The announcement comes just 10 days after Boehringer Ingelheim moved to improve the affordability of its inhalers for COPD and asthma.
Starting on June 1, 2024, eligible patients will pay at the most $35 for all U.S. inhaled respiratory medicines, including Airsupra, Symbicort, Bevespi Aerosphere and Breztri Aersophere.The company also announced it “substantially” reduced the list price of Symbicort in January and is planning to provide more discounts and rebates for its respiratory drugs.However, AstraZeneca noted that government restrictions exclude people enrolled in federal government insurance programs from co-pay support.
“AstraZeneca’s expanded savings programs build on our longstanding commitment to addressing barriers to access and affordability for patients living with respiratory diseases to ultimately help patients lead healthier lives,” CEO Pascal Soriot said in a statement. “We remain dedicated to addressing the need for affordability of our medicines, but the system is complex, and we cannot do it alone. It is critical that Congress bring together key stakeholders to help reform the healthcare system so patients can afford the medicines they need, not just today, but for the future.”
Monday’s move by AstraZeneca comes as Boehringer Ingelheim announced a similar initiative earlier this month.The German pharma is capping out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for eligible patients for its inhaler drugs. Boehringer said this program plans to “dramatically decrease” patient costs, especially those underinsured or uninsured. Boehringer’s initiative also plans to start on June 1 as well.
The capped medicines include Boehringer’s Atrovent, Spiriva, Stiolto, Combivent and Striverdi.
“The U.S. healthcare system is complex and often doesn’t work for patients, especially the most vulnerable. While we can’t fix the entire system alone, we are bringing forward a solution to make it fairer. We want to do our part to help patients living with COPD or asthma who struggle to pay for their medications,” Boehringer Ingelheim USA CEO Jean-Michel Boers said in a statement in early March.
AstraZeneca’s $35 initiative comes as it has faced pressure recently from the U.S. government to provide more doses of its RSV vaccine Beyfortus. At the same time, the pharma reluctantly agreed last year to participate in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Tyler Patchen is a staff writer at BioSpace. You can reach him at tyler.patchen@biospace.com. Follow him on LinkedIn.
