BioPharma

Amgen to stop selling Repatha at higher list price, offer low-priced option exclusively

The biotech company had kept the drug available at the higher list price in order to give payers and pharmacy benefit managers time to adjust contracts and minimize supply chain disruptions.

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A biotech drug used to treat inherited high cholesterol that last year saw its price reduced will soon only be available at that lower price.

Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen said Thursday that it planned to make the drug Repatha (evolocumab), a PCSK9 inhibitor, available at its lower price level exclusively in 2020. The drug at the original list price will be discontinued on Dec. 31.

The company reduced the price of Repatha to $5,850 per year in 2018 in order to reduce out-of-pocket costs, particularly for Medicare patients. Its competitors, Paris-based Sanofi and Tarrytown, New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, lowered the price of their own PCSK9 inhibitor, Praluent (alirocumab), in March, also to $5,850 per year. Both drugs are used to treat familial hypercholesterolemia.

The October 2018 introduction of the lower-priced Repatha was designed to reduce out-of-pocket costs, particularly for Medicare patients. However, it kept the drug on the market at the original price as well in order to give payers and pharmacy benefit managers enough time to modify existing contracts and minimize supply chain disruptions. Although the company said the move has improved access and affordability, some Medicare Part D plans have not yet transitioned to the new price, and as such not all Medicare patients are benefiting.

“One year ago, Amgen announced a commitment to improve patient affordability, particularly for Medicare patients, in order to ensure that every patient who needs Repatha, gets Repatha,” Amgen executive vice president for global commercial operations Murdo Gordon said in a statement. “The discontinuation of the original list price option is a critical step in delivering on this commitment.”

At the same time, both PCSK9 inhibitors face a potential competitive threat in the form of inclisiran, under development by Alnylam and The Medicines Co. Inclisiran is an RNA-interference drug that works by blocking production of PCSK9. The companies announced positive Phase III results last month and plan to file for Food and Drug Administration approval later this year.

Photo: BrianAJackson, Getty Images

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