This cholesterol drug is dropping from $14,600 to as low as $4,500

Some customers using a cholesterol drug made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi will be able to end up with more money in their wallets after the companies announced a rebate deal on Tuesday with pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

The list price of the drug, known as Praluent, is currently $14,600, set when the medication was approved by regulators in 2015. The new price is $4,500 to $8,000 per year – a decrease of as much as 69%. The range was recommended in March by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent nonprofit group. The price reduction will be in the form of a rebate, while the list price will remain the same.

The deal, which takes effect July 1, will allow Regeneron and Sanofi greater patient access, and the drug will be the only one in its category on the Express Scripts national formulary. Excluded will be a a medication known as Repatha, made by Amgen.

"This paradigm-shifting agreement is designed to break the gridlock so that Praluent is finally able to reach patients most in need," Dr. Leonard S. Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron, said in a statement. "U.S. cardiologists have experienced unprecedented challenges in securing access for Praluent for patients who were clearly appropriate, but were denied coverage.”

Praluent lowers LDL, sometimes called “bad” cholesterol, in a patient’s blood. LDL makes up most of the body’s cholesterol, and high levels of it increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drug is in a class of medicine known as PCSK9 inhibitors.

Regeneron and Sanofi announced in March they would be willing to lower the drug’s price in exchange for easier patient access and said that pricing could be tied to the review by ICER.That independent organization calculated two price benchmarks: $4,500 to $8,000 for higher-risk patients who had a recent acute coronary event, with LDL-levels above 100 milligrams per deciliter despite intensive statin therapy. The other recommended price for Praluent was $2,300 to $3,400 per year for all other patients.