Boehringer Ingelheim said that “eligible patients” will pay no more than $35 per month for BI inhalers, including Atrovent HFA ipratropium MDI, Combivent Respimat ipratropium / albuterol SMI, Spiriva HandiHaler tiotropium DPI, Spiriva Respimat tiotropium SMI, Stiolto Respimat tiotropium / olodaterol SMI, and Striverdi Respimat olodaterol SMI. According to the company, the program will start on June 1, 2024.
In January 2024, a US Senate committee began investigating inhaler prices, citing “outrageous” prices on inhalation products, including the more than $600 cost of Spiriva Respimat. The committee sent letters to the CEOs of large inhaler manufacturers, including Boehringer Ingelheim, accusing the companies of anti-competitive practices.
Beyond the cap on out-of-pocket payments for some patients, BI said that it “will decrease the list price on some of its inhaler products and will continue providing significant discounts and rebates off the list price of its medicines to insurers, pharmacy benefits managers and other parties, although unfortunately, these reductions are not always passed on to patients.”
Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corporation President and CEO Jean-Michel Boers commented, “Patients have counted on Boehringer Ingelheim for nearly 140 years to tackle challenges across diseases, including respiratory illnesses. The US healthcare system is complex and often doesn’t work for patients, especially the most vulnerable. While we can’t fix the entire system alone, we are bringing forward a solution to make it fairer. We want to do our part to help patients living with COPD or asthma who struggle to pay for their medications. This new program supports patients with predictable, affordable costs at the pharmacy counter. We will also continue to advocate for substantive policy reforms to improve the healthcare system.”
Read the Boehringer Inhgelheim press release.
