Originally Published by Sanofi.
Praluent (alirocumab) will be made available at a new reduced U.S. list price of $5,850 annually, a 60% reduction from the original price, for both the 75 mg and 150 mg doses, beginning in early March.
The new lower-priced Praluent is expected to result in lower patient out-of-pocket costs and represents another step in the companies’ efforts to help improve patient affordability and access. This follows an earlier announcement in March 2018, when Sanofi and Regeneron committed to lower the U.S. net price for payers in return for helping to reduce burdensome access barriers for appropriate patients.
“We were encouraged to see improvements in accessibility following our collaboration with payers last year to provide more straightforward, affordable access to Praluent, but only some patients had reduced out-of-pocket costs,” said Michelle Carnahan, North America Head of Primary Care Business Unit at Sanofi. “With today’s announcement, we are looking to help bridge that gap, and have now made Praluent available at a price that is approximately 60% lower. We hope that payers will do their part to help ensure savings are directly passed on to more patients, through lower out-of-pocket costs.”
With the new lower-priced Praluent, most Medicare Part D patients are expected to pay between $25 to $150 per month, a potential savings of up to $345*, depending on their insurance plan. Eligible commercial patients will continue to have access to copay assistance through MyPraluent.
*For illustrative purposes only, this calculation of monthly savings (e.g., 2 Praluent doses) assumes a scenario where Praluent is on a specialty tier with 33% co-insurance and Praluent then moves to preferred brand tier co-pay of $25. Individual savings will vary according to plan.
“In 2018, we lowered the Praluent net price for health plans that were willing to improve patient access and affordability. While lowering the net cost to payers did improve access, seniors who were prescribed Praluent were often still unable to afford it due to high co-pay costs or co-insurance at many Medicare Part D plans,” said Leonard S. Schleifer, MD, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Regeneron. “Offering a lower-priced Praluent will help lower seniors’ out-of-pocket costs and thereby remove another barrier to receiving this important medicine.”
The new, lower-priced Praluent is expected to be available for pharmacies to order in early March, and the doses with the original list price will remain on the market at least through 2019. The lower-priced Praluent will be identical to the Praluent currently available, other than the list price.
To learn more about these changes, U.S. physicians and patients can contact 1-800-633-1610 (press option 7, then option 5).
