Keytruda, Opdivo SubQ Conversions Cloud Near-Term Medicare Negotiation Savings Forecasts

A growing number of future Part B candidates for Medicare price negotiation may avoid price controls in the program with injectable versions.

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CBO forecasts may not have anticipated this kind of innovation.

The upcoming subcutaneous injectable versions of Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo could enable the blockbuster brands to evade the full impact of Medicare price negotiation in 2028, undercutting near-term projected US government savings from the program.

Key Takeaways
  • Subcutaneous injectable versions of Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol Myers Squibbs’ Opdivo could enable the drugs to evade the full impact of Medicare price negotiation in 2028, undercutting projected US government savings.
  • Because CMS does not consider combination drugs like the subQ formulations of Keytruda and Opdivo to be the same as the original product, the agency may not apply any negotiated price assigned to IV Keytruda or Opdivo to the injectable version

Keytruda and Opdivo were among the top four drugs in terms of Part B expenditures in 2022, based on the most recent data available from CMS. Spending reached $4

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