Second Inhaler Company Caps Prices at $35 a Month After Baldwin’s Investigation into High Costs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, AstraZeneca joined Boehringer Ingelheim as the second inhaler manufacturer to announce they are capping the out-of-pocket cost for their inhaler products at $35 per month in the United States. This news comes after Senator Baldwin and her colleagues launched an investigation into the high costs Americans pay for inhalers, demanding answers from the four biggest inhaler manufacturers – including AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim – on why they charge hundreds of dollars more for their products in the United States than elsewhere.

“Millions of Americans rely on inhalers to breathe every day, but for too many Americans, cost is a major barrier to getting the medication they need because big drug companies are price gouging them,” said Senator Baldwin. “Today’s news could be all the difference for families struggling to afford an inhaler, and I am proud to have put the pressure on these big drug companies to do the right thing. While I am glad to see more inhaler manufacturers getting on board to help us keep costs down for Wisconsin families, I will not stop calling out price gouging wherever it exists because Americans shouldn’t be ripped off just to get the medications they need to lead healthy lives.”

Starting June 1, 2024, AstraZeneca will cap their US inhaled respiratory medicines at $35 per month for eligible patients. Earlier this month, Boehringer Ingelheim also announced they are capping prices for their inhaler products on June 1.

Today, Baldwin is hosting a roundtable discussion with patients, providers, and advocates on the high cost of inhalers and her efforts to hold big drug companies accountable to lower the price of inhalers. Milwaukee ranked fourth among the nation’s top “asthma capitals” and pediatric uncontrolled asthma is a leading cause of emergency room visits in the city. This event comes on the heels of Senator Baldwin’s roundtable in Dane County in which she heard stories about the barriers patients and families face to accessing inhalers.

In January, Senator Baldwin and three of her colleagues on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) launched an investigation into the extremely high prices four large pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca, charge for inhalers that 25 million Americans with asthma and 16 million Americans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rely on to breathe.

The Senators sent letters to the CEOs of the four biggest manufacturers of inhalers sold in the United States – AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Teva – which charge between $200 and $600 for each inhaler, typically purchased monthly. In Wisconsin, more than 500,000 people have asthma and nearly 6 percent of the population is estimated to suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Earlier this year, Senator Baldwin also called on the four biggest inhaler companies to stop unfairly locking out generics from the market and driving up the cost of inhalers for Americans. Specifically, in letters to AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, and Teva, Senator Baldwin called on the companies to stop improperly listing patents for inhalers in the Orange Book and stifling competition. 

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