By Bhanvi Satija
(Reuters) – A close copy version of Abbvie’s blockbuster arthritis drug Humira will be available at a 92% discount to its list price on the GoodRx website, the digital healthcare platform and German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim said on Thursday.
GoodRx said that Boehringer will offer both high- and low- concentration versions of the biosimilar at an exclusive cost of $550 per two-pack on the GoodRx website.
Humira, which lists for almost $7,000 a month, is the first top-selling drug to compete with a slew of biosimilars, which are close but not exact copies of branded biologic medicines.
U.S. residents with a valid prescription, regardless of their insurance status, can buy the drug at that price using a coupon on the GoodRx website.
“We also find that healthcare providers are one of our biggest referral sources…So doctors themselves, once they know that there’s a cash option…they will tell their patients to check GoodRx,” said GoodRx Chief Commercial Officer Dorothy Gemmel.
Boehringer launched its biosimilar, or a close copy, of Humira last July. Despite nine biosimilars being launched in the U.S. last year, AbbVie’s Humira has held onto most of its patients.
“They (biosimilars) are meant to help improve affordability and access. And the penetration has been very, very slow,” said Gemmel.
Drug pricing experts have noted that pharmacy benefit managers, the industry middlemen, have provided little incentive for doctors to switch to Humira alternatives since the launch of the biosimilars last year.
About 2,500 prescriptions for Boehringer’s Cyltezo were filled in May, compared to over 600,000 prescriptions for Abbvie’s Humira, according to data from IQVIA.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
Comments