DTMT Network

Biogen’s new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease will cost half the current price from January 1, 2022, an official statement released by the company said.

Biogen Inc will reduce the wholesale acquisition cost of its aducanumab-avwa 100 mg/mL injection for intravenous use in the United States by approximately 50%, the statement added.

The annual cost of maintenance dose at 10mg/kg will be $28,200, the statement added.

According to Biogen, the Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC), (a price that is set by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in the United States when selling to a wholesaler)  of Aduhelm, an infusion that needs to be administered once every four weeks, will be $2,171.40 per infusion for an average U.S. patient with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia.

The cost of a 170 mg vial will be $479.40, while that of a 300 mg vial will be $846.00, the company said.

Biogen markets its aducanumab-avwa under the brand name Aduhelm which is a monoclonal antibody directed against amyloid-beta, the accumulation of which leads to plaque formation whose higher concentration in the brain is a defining pathophysiological feature of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Over the past several months, we have listened to the feedback of our stakeholders, and we are now taking important actions to improve patient access to Aduhelm,” Michel Vounatsos, the Chief Executive Officer at Biogen Inc said.

“Too many patients are not being offered the choice of Aduhelm due to financial considerations and are thus progressing beyond the point of benefitting from the first treatment to address an underlying pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. We recognize that this challenge must be addressed in a way that is perceived to be sustainable for the U.S. healthcare system,” he added.

Biogen expects that this lowering of the price will enable about 50,000 patients in the United States to start treatment with its formulation in 2022.

“It is a critical time for the Alzheimer’s disease community as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering the possibility of coverage of not only Aduhelm but also this entire new class of Alzheimer’s disease therapies. We hope our actions today will facilitate patient access to these innovative Alzheimer’s treatments,” he further added.

The cost-reduction measures are estimated to yield approximately $500 million in annualised savings, a significant portion of which will be realised in 2022; a portion of these savings will be offset by investments in Biogen’s pipeline and strategic initiatives the statement said.