Biden drug czar to summon naloxone makers for price roundtable

WASHINGTON — The White Home is summoning naloxone producers for a roundtable centered on the medicine’s worth, the Biden administration’s high drug coverage official informed STAT.

The transfer would signify the White Home’s most concrete motion to this point to handle the value of naloxone, a medicine used to reverse opioid overdoses. Whereas naloxone is considered as a essential device within the battle towards drug overdose deaths, its excessive price has lengthy been a barrier.

Specifically, Narcan, the naloxone product that obtained over-the-counter approval in March, stays cost-prohibitive for a lot of customers, public well being organizations, and harm-reduction teams. Its producer, Emergent BioSolutions, mentioned lately that it could purpose to cost a two-pack of Narcan at below $50.

In an interview with STAT, Rahul Gupta, the director of the White Home Workplace of Nationwide Drug Management Coverage, mentioned that the Biden administration will maintain an in depth eye on retail costs for Narcan and different naloxone merchandise.

“We’re going to be monitoring the value,” he mentioned. “I’m having naloxone producers come to the White Home, and we’re going to do a roundtable. As a result of I wish to make certain of precisely the issues right here. I hear it, and we’re going to be having that dialog within the White Home.”