The Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor ibrutinib (Imbruvica) is on the list of the first 10 medications that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services selected for price negotiations, according to a report from The New York Times.
In the United States, ibrutinib is currently indicated for the treatment of adults with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia and adults who have chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma with or without a 17p deletion, according to Johnson & Johnson. It is also indicated for patients aged one year and older with previously treated chronic graft-versus-host disease after failure of one or more lines of systemic therapy.
In April 2023, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie voluntarily withdrew the accelerated approval of ibrutinib for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma who received at least one prior therapy, and for the treatment of patients with marginal zone lymphoma who require systemic therapy and received at least one prior anti-CD20-based therapy.
Ibrutinib has a monthly sticker price of $17,000 and was taken by 20,000 people who were beneficiaries of Medicare in a recent 12-month period, according to The New York Times.
In addition to ibrutinib, the list also includes apixaban (Eliquis), empagliflozin (Jardiance), rivaroxaban (Xarelto), sitagliptin (Januvia), dapagliflozin (Farxiga), sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto), etanercept (Enbrel), ustekinumab (Stelara), and Fiasp and NovoLog insulin products.
Drug manufacturers have until October 1, 2023, to declare if they will participate in negotiations with the government and those that decline must pay an excise tax or withdraw all products from Medicare and Medicaid, according to The New York Times report.
Source: The New York Times, August 2023