Value-Based Contracts Becoming a Reality for Heart Disease Biologic

Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced last week a plan to help ensure affordable and timely access to alirocumab (Praluent), a PCSK9 inhibitor, according to a press release.

The manufacturers plan to reduce the cost of alirocumab even further for payers who enter into a novel value assessment for high-risk patients.

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“Inventing innovative medicines only matters if the people who need these products are able to access them — and that is unfortunately not the case with Praluent today,” said Leonard S. Schleifer, MD, PhD, president, CEO, Regeneron. “We believe a new paradigm is needed in how all members of the healthcare community collaborate to ensure that patients are able to affordably access medical treatments they need. We commit to working with all health plans that agree to remove access barriers for high-risk patients to offer a more cost-effective net price for Praluent. We hope that our unprecedented approach to collaborating with payers and other stakeholders demonstrates that it is possible to bring major innovation to patients at a price that aligns with the value delivered.”

The precision medicine approach will focus on patients who are vulnerable to cardiovascular events, including those who have experienced a previous coronary event and are unable to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels despite maximum statin therapy and diet, according to the release.

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