Pfizer to price COVID drug Paxlovid at $1390 in US
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By: Matthew Dennis
Ref: Bloomberg, Forbes, Yahoo!Finance, CNBC
Published: 10/19/2023
Pfizer disclosed that its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) will be priced at $1390 for a five-day course when it starts being sold commercially in the US next year. The company had been providing the oral antiviral to the government at a cost of around $530 per course.
At the end of last year, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) downwardly revised its suggested price range for Paxlovid, having previously set a benchmark of between $3600 and $5800. The group slashed its guide range by more than 80% to between $563 and $906 per treatment course, due to evidence of a lower risk of hospitalisation for untreated patients during the Omicron wave.
The commercial price for Paxlovid was revealed shortly after Pfizer and the US government revised terms of their supply agreement for the drug. Under the new terms, the government is returning around 7.9 million courses of Paxlovid at the end of 2023 in return for a credit for future courses of the antiviral. In parallel, the company cut its revenue guidance for the antiviral to about $7 billion, down from $8 billion forecasted in August.
Paxlovid's list price, which will become active once sales to health insurers start next year, is before rebates and other discounts to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. Under an agreement with the US government, the drug will remain free of charge for patients on Medicare and Medicaid through the end of 2024, and to uninsured and underinsured patients through 2028.
"As always, Pfizer's goal is to ensure broad and equitable access to our medicines. We are working diligently with payers to achieve the best possible formulary placement for Paxlovid, resulting in low [out-of-pocket] costs for patients," a company spokesperson said.
At the end of last year, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) downwardly revised its suggested price range for Paxlovid, having previously set a benchmark of between $3600 and $5800. The group slashed its guide range by more than 80% to between $563 and $906 per treatment course, due to evidence of a lower risk of hospitalisation for untreated patients during the Omicron wave.
The commercial price for Paxlovid was revealed shortly after Pfizer and the US government revised terms of their supply agreement for the drug. Under the new terms, the government is returning around 7.9 million courses of Paxlovid at the end of 2023 in return for a credit for future courses of the antiviral. In parallel, the company cut its revenue guidance for the antiviral to about $7 billion, down from $8 billion forecasted in August.
Paxlovid's list price, which will become active once sales to health insurers start next year, is before rebates and other discounts to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. Under an agreement with the US government, the drug will remain free of charge for patients on Medicare and Medicaid through the end of 2024, and to uninsured and underinsured patients through 2028.
"As always, Pfizer's goal is to ensure broad and equitable access to our medicines. We are working diligently with payers to achieve the best possible formulary placement for Paxlovid, resulting in low [out-of-pocket] costs for patients," a company spokesperson said.