Posted by Michael Wonder on 28 Mar 2017
Severe eczema drug is approved by FDA; price tag is $37,000 a year
28 March 2017 - The FDA on Tuesday approved a drug to treat people with a serious form of eczema, a potential breakthrough for people who have suffered for years without relief. But it will not come cheap.
The drug, to be called Dupixent, will carry a list price of $37,000 a year, a hefty price tag for patients who are increasingly being asked to pay a larger share of the drugs they take. Still, its price is a bit lower than many other commonly used biologic drugs, such as Humira and Enbrel, that treat other skin diseases.
In an effort to head off another public battle over the soaring cost of some prescriptions, the drug makers Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi took the unusual step of directly negotiating with insurers over the price and other details ahead of time. What consumers pay for drugs has come under heightened scrutiny in the last few years, most recently by President Trump, who has promised several times to take drug companies to task over their costly products.
