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AstraZeneca Joins The $35 Inhaler Club; Medicare Patients Waiting On Congress For Membership

 
• By Alaric DeArment and Nielsen Hobbs

AZ’s move follows Boehringer’s announcement earlier this month and parallels what insulin sponsors did – but almost in reverse. For inhalers, political pressure on out-of-pocket costs has produced copay caps in the commercial market first, not Medicare.

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Less than two weeks after a similar move by Boehringer Ingelheim, AstraZeneca has moved to cap out-of-pocket costs for its inhalers at $35 for certain patients as drug makers face increasing political pressure to lower costs. But the announcement also creates pressure of a sort on the politicians that were leaning on the sponsors: The pricing cannot extend to the Medicare population without Congressional legislation.

Key Takeaways

  • AstraZeneca’s cap on patient cost sharing for its inhaled drugs at $35 for uninsured and commercially insured individuals in the US comes weeks after Boehringer Ingelheim announced a similar plan.

  • The move highlights two rare areas of agreement for the pharmaceutical industry and Democratic politicians: support for copay caps and a distaste for PBM rebating tactics

AstraZeneca said on 18 March that effective 1 June, eligible patients – namely those with commercial insurance and the uninsured – would pay no more than $35 per month in copays for inhalers across its entire inhaled respiratory

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