The medication Gonal-f will be sold at a major discount in the United States, which the White House noted is “equal to 796% of the deal price,” via purchase through the TrumpRx.gov, with women who qualify as low or middle-income who buy from the website, which is set to launch in January, getting “an additional discount totaling 2,320% of the deal price.”
As EMD Serono noted in a press release:
As part of the agreement, EMD Serono will offer Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) sales of its complete portfolio of IVF therapies, including Gonal-f® (follitropin alfa injection), Ovidrel® (choriogonadotropin alfa injection), and Cetrotide® (cetrorelix acetate for injection), to eligible patients with prescriptions at significantly reduced prices. When all three therapies are used in a typical IVF protocol, patients will access an 84% discount off list prices.
Trump said in a press conference in the Oval Office alongside cabinet officials, EMD Serono Vice President Libby Horne, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) that the deal was made possible because of his Most Favored Nation executive order earlier this year.
He noted that IVF cycles can cost as much as $25,000, with popular fertility drugs at times accounting for about one-fifth of that, at as much as $5,000 per cycle in the United States.
“One of the most popular fertility drug regimens costs over $5,000 per cycle, as an example… Largely as a result of these unsustainable prices, 70 percent of the employers do not offer insurance that covers IVF,” he said.
“Therefore, most couples with fertility challenges are paying these costs entirely out of their own pockets, which is not really possible to do,” he added
The White House notes that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates the deal can save up to $2,200 on fertility drug treatments per cycle.
Additionally, Trump noted that the Food and Drug Administration is launching an expedited review of Pergoveris, another EMD Serono drug that is sold in Europe at the moment.
“Upon approval, this drug would directly compete against a much more expensive option that currently has a monopoly in the American market, and this will bring down costs very significantly, and the other one is going to have to come down also,” he detailed.
Per EMD Serono:
Pergoveris has the potential to be an innovative therapeutic option for women undergoing ovarian stimulation for Medically Assisted Reproductive (MAR) cycles. If approved in the U.S., Pergoveris would be the first and only combination of recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone (r-hFSH) and recombinant human luteinizing hormone (r-hLH). Pergoveris is designed to mimic reproductive physiology with r-hFSH and r-hLH acting in synergy to support follicular development up to ovulation and maturation. Pergoveris also provides a combination protocol in one pre-filled injection using Redi-ject® pen technology that has been established and proven with Gonal-f, which means fewer injections, a potentially better patient experience, less copays, and a lower overall self-pay cost of combination therapy.
Trump also shared that “EMD Serono has agreed that all future drugs and everything that it develops and sells in the United States will be offset at most favored nation prices.”
On top of this, Trump said his administration is giving insurance companies the ability to offer “supplemental insurance plans specifically for fertility,” similar to dental and vision options.
“Americans will be able to opt in to specialized coverage,” he said.
The announcement comes after he struck a deal with Pfizer, announced last month, to offer drastically reduced prices on its drugs through state Medicaid programs.
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