EpiPen rival to be offered free to many but high price for insurers
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Privately held drugmaker Kaleo on Thursday said it would offer its Auvi-Q emergency allergy auto-injector at no cost to many consumers, but set a list price for the EpiPen rival that will be used as the benchmark cost to insurance companies at a whopping $4,500.
EpiPen maker Mylan NV came under intense criticism last year when it raised the price for a pair of its life-saving auto-injectors to $600, putting it out of reach for many consumers. It has since said it will sell its own generic EpiPen for about half that price.
Kaleo, which plans to relaunch Auvi-Q on Feb. 14 following a product recall, appears to have come up with a strategy to avoid the ire of mothers whose children depend on the product and others prone to potentially deadly allergic reactions.
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Consumers with commercial insurance will be able to obtain Auvi-Q at no charge, the company said. It will also make the product available for free to patients with no insurance and a household income of less than $100,000.
Auvi-Q will be sold at a cash price of $360 for those who do not qualify for the emergency treatment at no charge, the Richmond, Virginia-based company said.
However, the starting price from which health insurance companies will negotiate discounts or rebates will be $4,500. It remains to be seen how payers will respond to the strategy.
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"In order to help ensure Auvi-Q is available as an option to eligible patients for $0 out-of-pocket, we set the list price at $4,500," Kaleo Chief Executive Spencer Williamson said in an e-mailed statement.
"It's important to note that nobody pays the list price, and that the most important price is the price to the patient," Williamson said. "No epinephrine auto-injector, branded or even generic, will cost a commercially insured patient less out-of-pocket than Auvi-Q."
EpiPen has had a virtual monopoly on the emergency allergy treatments with more than a 90 percent market share.
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Auvi-Q was originally sold in partnership with French drugmaker Sanofi, but was pulled from the market over manufacturing problems. Sanofi has since returned full rights to Auvi-Q to Kaleo.