CMS reaches agreements for lower prices of 10 drugs

After months of anticipation, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have announced the finalized agreements on drug price discounts for 10 drugs covered by Medicare.

These drug price negotiations were triggered when President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 into law. The act capped insulin prices, penalized drug companies for increasing prices faster than inflation, expanded benefits, and allowed CMS to negotiate drug prices for Medicare parts B and D.

In August 2023, CMS and the Biden administration announced the first 10 drugs entering negotiations. Today, August 15, 2024, CMS has announced the outcomes of the talks, listing the updated prices and the discounts from the list prices.

The drugs and their negotiated prices for a 30-day supply are listed below.

• Januvia, manufactured by Merck Sharp Dohme for diabetes management, is listed for $527 per 30-day supply but has been negotiated to a 79% discount, reaching $113 per 30-day supply.
• Fiasp, a Novo Nordisk drug for diabetes, will see a 76% discount, dropping prices from $495 to $119 per 30-day supply.
• AstraZeneca AB’s Farxiga — used for diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease — will be 68% cheaper, dropping from $556 to $178.50.
• Enbrel, manufactured by Immunex Corporation for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis, will be 67% less expensive, reducing prices to $2,355 from $7,106.
• CMS negotiated with Boehringer Ingelheim to reduce the price of Jardiance, which treats diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease, by 66%, from $573 to $197.
• Stelara, manufactured by Janssen Biotech for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, is listed for $13,836 per 30-day supply but has been negotiated to a 66% discount, reaching $4,695 per 30-day supply.
• Janssen Pharms has reduced the price of Xarelto — used to prevent and treat blood clots or reduce the risk of clots for patients with coronary or peripheral artery disease — by 62%, dropping it from $517 to $197.
•  Eliquis, a Bristol Myers Squibb drug for preventing blood clots, will receive a 56% discount, dropping from $521 to $231 per 30-day supply.
• CMS negotiated with Novartis Pharma Corp to reduce the price of Entresto, which treats heart failure, by 53%, from $628 to $295.
• Finally, Imbruvica, manufactured by Pharmacyclics LLC, will be 38% cheaper, shifting from $14,934 to $9,319, for the treatment of blood cancers.

According to the press release, if these prices were in effect in 2023, Medicare could have saved 22% of its spending or approximately $6 billion, as roughly 9 million individuals on Medicare use one of these 10 drugs. Once implemented, Medicare patients could save an aggregated $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket spending in 2026.

“CMS is proud to have negotiated drug prices for people with Medicare for the first time. These negotiations will not only lower the prices of critically important medications for cancer, diabetes, heart failure, and more, but will also save billions of dollars,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in the press release. “Medicare drug price negotiation and the lower prices announced today demonstrate the commitment of CMS and the Biden–Harris Administration to lower healthcare and prescription drug costs for Americans. We made a promise to the American people, and today, we are thrilled to share that we have fulfilled that promise.”