This new report comes from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, which is a nonprofit that has earned a name for itself in the past year when it issued a warning about the price of new drugs for treating hepatitis C.
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“Even if these drugs have been utilized in simply over 25 % of eligible sufferers, then employers, insurers, and sufferers would wish to spend on common greater than $20 billion a yr for these drugs”, ICER president Steven Pearson stated in a press release.
An annual price tag at or below $2,177 is needed, ICER researchers said, “for the total costs of these new drugs to come down to a level at which doctors and insurers would not have to try to limit patient use in some way to keep overall health care cost growth within bounds”. Scientists are now conducting studies to determine whether PCSK9 inhibitors can lower heart attack risks similar to statins.
According to the estimations of the institute, between 3.5 million and 15 million Americans could be eligible for the treatment.
Two newly approved medications to treat high cholesterol are extremely overpriced compared to the health benefits they give to patients, a new analysis finds.
This report from ICER is also expected to be the first while much more from different organizations as well as academic researchers to assess the cost effectiveness of these cholesterol drugs are in the pipeline. That rationale has been challenged by other groups in recent months as drug prices have trended upward quite dramatically. But the company disagrees with the institute’s methodology, assumptions and preliminary conclusions.
“There are serious questions regarding the price at which these drugs would represent a sensible value to patients and to the health care system”, the report said. Regeneron, which makes Praluent, told the Times that it had not been able to look at the report but that the calculations are “complex, and a robust and open peer-review process is essential”. The company said it is “concerned that ICER’s review does not place value on addressing a significant unmet medical need”, and that ICER’s analysis could create barriers for patients seeking access to Repatha. “We are committed to providing affordable medicines and ensuring access to Praluent for patients who are prescribed the therapy”, Regeneron spokeswoman Hala Mizra said. USA spending on prescription drugs rose more than 12% previous year, the biggest annual increase in more than a decade, according to the largest pharmacy-benefit manager.
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Further entry of PCSK9 drugs from Pfizer and others could also lead to lower prices as competition intensifies.
