Praluent to be made more accessible and affordable for high risk patients, say Sanofi and Regeneron

Plans have been announced by Sanofi and Regeneron to make Praluent (alirocumab) more accessible and affordable for those patients with the greatest health risk and unmet need.

These plans come after the publication of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial, which demonstrated the treatment significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular events in high risk patients and was associated with a lower death rate.

The companies plan includes a further reduced net price for Praluent (alirocumab) Injection, to be offered to US payers that agree to reduce burdensome access barriers for high-risk patients. This is aligned with a new value assessment made by the US Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER).

“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 Dr Leonard S. Schleifer, PhD, president and chief executive officer of 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.”

“Too many patients in urgent need of additional treatment options on top of statins have faced tremendous hurdles to gain access to this important medicine. We are prepared to improve access and affordability, eliminating burdensome barriers for high-risk patients in need,” added Dr Olivier Brandicourt, chief executive officer of Sanofi. “We will begin working with payers to ensure that high-risk patients have appropriate access. This is the right thing to do for patients.”