Amgen Drops Repatha List Price 60% To Cut Medicare Co-Pays And Boost Use

Amgen Inc. has found a way to help US patients with high-risk cardiovascular disease who are covered by Medicare Part D plans spend the same amount of money out of their own pockets for Repatha (evolocumab) as patients covered by commercial plans.

Because Medicare Part D co-payments are based on Repatha's current list price of $14,523, those individuals may pay as much as $370 per dose of the cholesterol-lowering PCSK9 inhibitor. As a result, about 75% of Medicare Part D patients who aren't eligible for low income subsidies abandon Repatha at the pharmacy counter. To reduce the abandonment rate, Amgen said on Oct