Reimbursement and Pricing of Combination Products in the U.S. Asthma and COPD Markets
Increasing formulary competition and decreasing product differentiation have led to an aggressive pricing war in the U.S. asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) markets. As pharmacy benefits managers aim to cover only one or two of the four available long-acting beta2 agonist/inhaled corticosteroid (LABA/ICS) combinations, drug manufacturers are forced to slash prices in an effort to gain preferred status over the competitors. The same phenomenon is likely to play out with the LABA/long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) combinations for COPD, as the second class member recently launched and up to three additional combinations are expected to be approved. This report examines if better ways exist for these similar products to win the reimbursement battle.
