NEWS: Sanders Applauds GlaxoSmithKline for Capping Inhaler Costs at $35 Per Month

WASHINGTON, March 20 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, on Wednesday issued the following statement after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the largest manufacturer of inhaler products in the United States, announced that it would cap out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for its asthma and COPD inhalers no later than January 1, 2025. These products include: Advair Diskus, Advair HFA, Anoro Ellipta, Arnuity Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Incruse Ellipta, Serevent Diskus, Trelegy Ellipta, and Ventolin HFA.

Chairman Sanders said:

As Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I very much appreciate GlaxoSmithKline’s announcement today that Americans throughout the country with asthma and COPD will pay no more than $35 for the brand name inhalers they manufacture. I look forward to working with GSK to make sure that this decision reaches as many patients as possible.

GlaxoSmithKline’s announcement today follows the recent decisions of Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca to also cap the cost of their inhalers at $35.

With today’s announcement, the three largest manufacturers of inhalers in the world have all committed to cap the cost of inhalers in the United States at no more than $35 at the pharmacy counter. This will significantly cut costs for millions of Americans with asthma and COPD so that they will be able to afford the inhalers they need.

In January, the HELP Committee launched an investigation into the outrageously high cost of inhalers that 25 million Americans with asthma and 16 million Americans with COPD rely on to breathe. In my view, Americans who have asthma and COPD should not be forced to pay, in many cases, 10 to 70 times more for the same exact inhalers as patients in Europe and other parts of the world.

The Senate HELP Committee will continue to do everything we can do to make sure that Americans no longer pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.