Praluent US List Price to Be Cut by 60%

Regeneron and Sanofi revealed in a press release plans to reduce the cost of their cholesterol treatment drug, Praluent (alirocumab), by 60%. This decision is one in a series of choices to make Praluent more available and affordable to patients.

The new price will be $5,850 annually essentially matching the price of the competitor Amgen’s Repatha, which lowered prices in October. The 60% decrease applies to both 75mg and 150mg doses.

Praluent and Repatha are both biotech PCSK9 inhibitors that lower bad cholesterol and reduce the risks of heart attacks and death. Regeneron and Sanofi reported in 2018 that Praluent reduced cardiovascular events by 15%, with even stronger results in high-risk patients.

“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.”

According to the press release, “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.”

“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, Sanofi. She continued, “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.”

The lower-priced, identical Praluent is expected to be available for pharmacies to order early March.—Edan Stanley