Major pharmaceutical companies put $35 monthly price cap on asthma inhalers

Key takeaways:

• AstraZeneca, Boehringer and GSK are enacting these caps.
• A price cap will make asthma inhalers more accessible to uninsured and underinsured patients.
• These caps will take effect on June 1.

Three of the largest producers of asthma inhalers have agreed to cap the price of their inhaler products at $35. This comes after several Democratic lawmakers asked pharmaceutical companies to decrease the prices of inhalers.

According to the CDC, over 20% of adults and 18% of children with asthma use their inhaler more than twice a week, which doctors label as frequent usage. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America reports that one in 12 people in the United States, or more than 27 million people, have asthma.

With so many people suffering from this disease, lawmakers decided to put pressure on pharmaceutical companies to adjust their prices and make this medicine more affordable and accessible. In January, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent out letters to the four largest pharmaceutical companies in the United States to launch an investigation into the high $200 to $600 prices of monthly inhalers.

The three producers who agreed to enact the $35 monthly price cap are AstraZeneca, Boehringer and GSK.

Healio spoke with AstraZeneca about its decision to enact the price cap.

“We support comprehensive actions to lower out-of-pocket costs for all patients and are constantly looking at ways to make our innovative medicines widely accessible to the millions of Americans who need them,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson told Healio.

Following the letters from lawmakers and KFF — formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation — reporting that about eight in 10 adults said the cost of prescription drugs is unreasonable and that three in 10 people have not taken their medication due to high drug costs, pharmaceutical companies are also following suit in trying to address this issue. Just last year, producers enacted a price cap on insulin to allow patients better access to lifesaving medicine.

“It is critical that Congress and the Administration reform one of the true drivers of high health care costs in the U.S. — pharmacy middlemen,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson said. “[Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)] often request high percentages of the list price, or wholesale acquisition cost, of medicines called a ‘rebate,’ and these rebates do not translate to savings for patients at the pharmacy counter. AstraZeneca supports comprehensive PBM reform to fundamentally lower out-of-pocket costs for all patients and improve the entire health care system.”

Boehringer Ingelheim was one of the first companies to launch the price cap and told Healio that this program is just one of the ways the company continues to advocate for a better system.

“We recognize this is just one solution; however, we will continue to advocate for substantive policy reforms to improve the healthcare system,” a Boehringer Ingelheim spokesperson said. “We are doing our part to advance a patient remedy for the most vulnerable patients. Predictable, affordable costs at the pharmacy counter are critical, and while we can’t fix the entire system alone, we also aren’t content to wait for more fair policy solutions to advance.”

GSK also told Healio that its announcement builds on its decades-long commitment to making products accessible to those who need them.

“GSK is committed to bringing innovation and accessibility to patients with respiratory illnesses,” U.S. Commercial GSK president Maya Martinez-Davis said in a company press release. “In the U.S., we already provide significant rebates and discounts for our products, as well as patient assistance programs, to help bring down costs and this new commitment, combined with our existing offerings, will help even more patients living with asthma or COPD.”

As for who exactly is eligible for the price cap, it seems that most if not all will benefit.

“Inhalers will be available for $35 a month at retail pharmacies for people with commercial insurance and for those who do not have insurance,” a Boehringer Ingelheim spokesperson said. “Government restrictions exclude people enrolled in federal government insurance programs, such as Medicare, from copay support.”

Companies are also planning to expand the price cap to most of their respiratory products.

“We will expand the savings programs for our entire U.S. inhaled respiratory portfolio, inclusive of Airsupra [albuterol/budesonide], Bevespi Aerosphere [glycopyrronium-formoterol], Breztri Aerosphere [budesonide/glycopyrrolate/formoterol fumarate] and Symbicort [budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate], helping eligible patients pay no more than $35 per month for their medicine,” said an AstraZeneca spokesperson. “This includes helping patients who are uninsured and underinsured.”

These price caps will go into effect on June 1.

References:

• Frequent use of quick-relief medication among persons with active asthma. https://www.cdc.gov/asthma/asthma_stats/overuse.htm. Published Sept. 9, 2014. Accessed March 27, 2024
• GSK announces cap of $35 per month on U.S. patient out-of-pocket costs for its entire portfolio of asthma and COPD inhalers. https://us.gsk.com/en-us/media/press-releases/gsk-announces-cap-of-35-per-month-on-us-patient-out-of-pocket-costs-for-its-entire-portfolio-of-asthma-and-copd-inhalers/. Published March 20, 2024. Accessed Marh 26, 2024.
• News: Chairman Sanders, Baldwin, Luján, Markey launch HELP committee investigation into efforts by pharmaceutical companies to manipulate the price of asthma inhalers. https://www.help.senate.gov/chair/newsroom/press/news-chairman-sanders-baldwin-lujan-markey-launch-help-committee-investigation-into-efforts-by-pharmaceutical-companies-to-manipulate-the-price-of-asthma-inhalers. Published Jan. 8, 2024. Accessed March 27, 2024.
• Public opinion on prescription drugs and their prices. https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/public-opinion-on-prescription-drugs-and-their-prices/. Published Aug. 21, 2023. Accessed March 27, 2024.