Aduhelm Price Cut May Not Sway Private Payers’ View of Drug

Since the FDA greenlit the Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab) in July under the accelerated approval program, concerns over the drug’s hefty price tag and overall effectiveness have been mounting. Now, the drug’s manufacturer, Biogen Inc., has cut the price approximately in half. One expert tells AIS Health that the move may cause private insurers to view the drug slightly more favorably, but they’re still likely to impose coverage restrictions on it. And a health plan trade group signaled that it isn’t impressed by the price cut.

After all, the furor surrounding Aduhelm is not all about price. “The clinical evidence that the FDA relied upon when approving the drug had various limitations, and the findings of the two clinical studies were conflicting,” James Chambers, Ph.D., MPharm., an associate professor at the Tufts Medical Center Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, tells AIS Health via email.