Two House Democrats on Thursday accused makers of multiple sclerosis drugs with raising prices on older drugs to match the price of newer drugs from their competitors.
Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., sent letters to seven drug makers seeking answers about price hikes for MS drugs. The lawmakers, who have been investigating high drug prices, say the prices for MS drugs are rising to meet, or shadow, the prices of newer entrants in the market.
The lawmakers pointed to a study that shows annual sales of MS drugs doubled from $4 billion in 2008 to nearly $9 billion in 2012, and indicated that higher prices on older drugs are contributing to those increases.
“The prices of more than a dozen MS therapies have increased sharply in the past decade, nearly in lockstep with new, more expensive entrants into the market,” the lawmakers said in one of the letters to manufacturers.
The manufacturers targeted were Novartis, Sanofi, EMD Serono, Bayer, Roche, Teva, and Biogen.
The letters list examples of major price hikes for some drugs that are in some cases several decades old. For instance, Bayer’s Betaseron was approved in 1993 and on average cost users $48,676 per year in 2012, but that cost jumped to $91,261 in 2017, according to data from the lawmakers.
Teva’s Copaxone was approved in 1996 and cost users an average of $51,315 per year in 2012. The cost in 2017 is $91,401.
The lawmakers add that there isn’t much cheaper generic competition for MS treatments, and what does exist is pricey. Currently, the generic for Copaxone costs $66,731.
The lawmakers called on all the drugmakers to provide a list of profits and expenses related to the MS drugs. They also asked for records on pricing strategies and patient assistance programs.
This is the latest investigation into high drug prices in Congress. Some investigations have led to legislation to clamp down on high drug prices.
For instance, Congress this month passed legislation that lets the FDA boost competition for off-patent drugs that see high price hikes.
However, Democrat-led reforms, such as letting Medicare negotiate for higher drug prices or letting people buy cheaper drugs from Canada, have not advanced in Congress.
