In a letter posted last Monday on the company’s website, Mr. Aronin said he expects patients to pay $20 per prescription for the drug.
“I want to reinforce that every patient who needs this drug will have access to it, and that price should not be a barrier,” Mr. Aronin wrote. “Put simply, we expect patients will pay a standard co-pay of typically $20 or less per prescription.”
Part of the outrage surrounding the drug stems from the fact a generic form of Emflaza has been on the market in Europe for decades and Americans can purchase the drug for as little as $1,200 overseas, according to the report. Mr. Aronin responded to these concerns in his letter, attempting to justify the high cost of the drug.
“When we set the price of Emflaza, we considered the following: the resources we invested to get to this point, the resources needed to complete the phase 4 clinical studies and FDA post-marketing study commitments, the ability to fund future research and development, and the ability to ensure broad patient access through insurer reimbursement and our own patient assistance programs,” Mr. Aronin wrote.
Marathon paused the launch of Emflaza amid the price scrutiny, “to meet with Duchenne community leaders and explain our commercialization plans, review their concerns, discuss all options and move forward with commercialization based on the resulting plan of action,” Mr. Aronin wrote in the letter.
More articles on supply chain:
4 latest FDA approvals
Opinion: Why there are so few female supply chain and logistics leaders
House proposes bill to give FDA mandatory drug recall authority: 5 takeaways
