GlaxoSmithKline, Astra Zeneca Agree To Cap Inhaler Costs At $35 Per Month, Benefiting Low Income Patients Reliant On This Treatment: Sen. Sanders Applauds Both Companies

Sanders Applauds GlaxoSmithKline for Capping Inhaler Costs at $35 Per Month

Editor’s note: We previously reported on the investigation lead by Sen. Sanders of the HELP Committee on price manipulation efforts of drug companies for asthma inhalers. 

WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Wednesday issued the following statement after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the largest manufacturer of inhaler products in the United States, announced that it would cap out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for its asthma and COPD inhalers no later than January 1, 2025. These products include: Advair Diskus, Advair HFA, Anoro Ellipta, Arnuity Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Incruse Ellipta, Serevent Diskus, Trelegy Ellipta, and Ventolin HFA.

Chairman Sanders said:

As Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I very much appreciate GlaxoSmithKline’s announcement today that Americans throughout the country with asthma and COPD will pay no more than $35 for the brand name inhalers they manufacture. I look forward to working with GSK to make sure that this decision reaches as many patients as possible.

GlaxoSmithKline’s announcement today follows the recent decisions of Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca to also cap the cost of their inhalers at $35.

With today’s announcement, the three largest manufacturers of inhalers in the world have all committed to cap the cost of inhalers in the United States at no more than $35 at the pharmacy counter. This will significantly cut costs for millions of Americans with asthma and COPD so that they will be able to afford the inhalers they need.

In January, the HELP Committee launched an investigation into the outrageously high cost of inhalers that 25 million Americans with asthma and 16 million Americans with COPD rely on to breathe. In my view, Americans who have asthma and COPD should not be forced to pay, in many cases, 10 to 70 times more for the same exact inhalers as patients in Europe and other parts of the world.

The Senate HELP Committee will continue to do everything we can do to make sure that Americans no longer pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

Sanders Applauds AstraZeneca for Capping Inhaler Costs at $35 Per Month

WASHINGTON, March 18 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Monday issued the following statement after AstraZeneca announced that it would cap out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for its asthma and COPD inhalers, starting on June 1, 2024.

The announcement comes on the heels of the January 8 HELP Committee investigation, led by Chairman Sanders and HELP Committee members Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), as to why Americans pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for inhalers.

Earlier this month, Boehringer Ingelheim announced that it would cap patient out-of-pocket costs for all of its inhalers at $35 starting on June 1, 2024. The company also announced that it would lower the list price of some of its inhalers.

Sanders said:

In January, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions that I chair launched an investigation into the outrageously high cost of inhalers that 25 million Americans with asthma and 16 million Americans with COPD rely on to breathe. In my view, Americans who have asthma and COPD should not be forced to pay, in many cases, 10 to 70 times more for the same exact inhalers as patients in Europe and other parts of the world.

Since we launched that investigation, I have had conversations with all of the CEOs of the major manufacturers of these products.

Today, I am very pleased that AstraZeneca has announced that patients in America with commercial insurance and the uninsured or under-insured will pay no more than $35 for the inhalers that they manufacture beginning on June 1st of this year.

This is a very positive step which will help save Americans thousands of dollars a year on the inhalers they need to breathe.

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Today, I am calling on the two other major manufacturers of inhalers – GlaxoSmithKline and Teva – to take similar action. If AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim can cap the cost of inhalers at $35 in the United States, these other companies can do the same.

The Senate HELP Committee will continue to do everything we can do to make sure that Americans no longer pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

Banner Image: Asthma inhaler. Image Credit – Pic_Panther

Senator Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is serving his third term in the U.S. Senate after winning re-election in 2018. His previous 16 years in the House of Representatives make him the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history.