Amid congressional scrutiny on U.S. inhaler prices, GSK is the latest pharma giant to commit to capping patients' monthly payments for its portfolio of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) meds.
The move follows similar announcements from GSK's peers Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca. Each drugmaker is capping out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for their respective inhaler products.
GSK's new price cap will take effect no later than January 1, 2025, the company said in a press release.
“This new commitment, combined with our existing offerings, will help even more patients living with asthma or COPD,” head of U.S. commercial at GSK, Maya Martinez-Davis, said in the statement.
GSK already provides “significant rebates and discounts for our products, as well as patient assistance programs, to help bring down costs,” according to Martinez-Davis.
GSK recently cut the wholesale acquisition cost for its Advair Diskus and its Advair HFA by an average of 50% and 20%, respectively, the company noted in the release.
While the list of products included in the new commitment includes its popular Trelegy Ellipta and other Ellipta inhaler meds, among others, GSK's Flovent HFA is no longer a part of the company's portfolio
That's because on January 1 of this year, the company substituted the product for an authorized generic with partner Prasco. The move has attracted scrutiny from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, who recently called it a “shameful money grab.”
Warren inked a letter to GSK’s CEO Emma Walmsley earlier this month, accusing the drugmaker of pulling the brand-name med and marketing a generic at an “artificially inflated price” to skirt accountability for “years of outrageous price hikes.”
While branded Flovent inhalers had a lower net price due to rebates, the same does not appear to apply to the authorized generic version.
GSK said it has been planning to discontinue the branded products for “a long time” and has “no role in any formulary conversations on behalf of Prasco and the Flovent authorized generics,” a spokesperson told Fierce Pharma at the time.
Still, the company’s latest pricing move was applauded by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) head Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who “very much appreciate[s]” the decision, he said in a HELP committee statement.
“I look forward to working with GSK to make sure that this decision reaches as many patients as possible,” the senator added.
With the move, three leading inhaler manufacturers have committed to the $35 out-of-pocket monthly price cap. A fourth drugmaker, Teva, was also included in the HELP committee’s January investigation into the “outrageous” costs for asthma and COPD products on the U.S. market.
Boehringer Ingelheim kicked off the trend with its price cap announcement earlier this month, while AstraZeneca followed suit last week. Both drugmakers' new savings programs will take effect on June 1.