A generic version of multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone was introduced in 2015, but it has done little to lower drug costs for MS patients, NPR reported.
Yearly costs for MS drugs can run as high as $50,000 per year, even with insurance, and prices continue to rise.
Copaxone, made by Teva Pharmaceutical, is one of the most commonly prescribed MS drugs. A generic version was introduced in 2015, but instead of bringing costs down, it increased the monthly cost of Copaxone by $441, according to NPR.
Dan Hartung, PharmD, a drug policy researcher at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, and his colleagues studied Medicaid data from 2011 to 2017 and tracked prices and spending on MS drugs.
Generic Copaxone made a "pretty minimal impact" on overall MS drug costs, according to Dr. Hartung. By the end of 2017, only 36 percent of MS patients who were taking Copaxone switched to the generic version.
Now, the list price for the daily injection of Copaxone is more than $7,000 for 30 syringes, compared to $1,500 to $1,950 for the same amount of the generic version, according to GoodRx data cited by NPR.
One explanation for why generic Copaxone didn't lower costs is that a year and a half before the generic was approved, Teva released a new formulation of the drug with a higher dose, meaning it needed to be taken less frequently. It is a common tactic used by brand-name drugmakers to reduce generic competition, Dr. Hartung told NPR.
MS drugs also work differently for each patient, so switching to a generic version may not be an option for some of them.
Stacie Dusetzina, PhD, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University, told NPR that MS patients may eventually see cost savings, as it usually takes four to five years for generics to make a significant impact on prices.
Read the full article here.