Doctors Express ‘Huge Shock’ as Manufacturer Pulls Popular Asthma Inhalers From Market

Written by Naveen Athrappully on January 14, 2024. Posted in Current News

Biopharma corporation GSK (formerly GlaxoSmithKline) will cease the manufacture and sale of two extremely popular branded asthma inhalers beginning next year in favor of producing generic versions, triggering concerns about insurance coverage and product access.

Effective Jan. 1, GSK will discontinue its asthma inhaler Flovent HFA and inhalation powder Flovent Diskus. Instead, the company will be offering generic versions of these products at a lower cost. The generic version of Flovent HFA was launched in May 2022.

Discontinuation of Flovent HFA has raised concerns among medical experts as this is happening amid the respiratory virus season. Many insurers may not provide coverage for the generic version of the product.

As such, the Flovent discontinuation is happening at the “worst possible time of the year,” Dr. Cohen said.

“Flu, Covid, RSV—all these circulating viruses that are going around right now—are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, triggers for asthma attacks in kids. … This is what leads to kids being in the emergency room.”

Dr. Cohen is concerned that many patients, physicians, and pharmacists are not aware of the discontinuation of Flovent and that they will have to work out alternatives for the medication.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois notified patients that only Arnuity, Qvar, and Asmanex would be considered preferred alternatives to Flovent, according to AAP.

However, Arnuity and Qvar are not appropriate for children, Dr. Christopher M. Oermann, a member of the AAP Section on Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine Executive Committee, pointed out.

Even if a preferred alternative is covered by insurers, switching thousands of children to the new medication would be a challenge, he stated.

“There are lots of children that are hospitalized every day in the United States with asthma exacerbations, and there are kids that die every year in the United States as a result of severe asthma exacerbations,“ Dr. Oermann said. “If those kids that are poorly controlled don’t have access to preventive inhalers, some of those kids could die.”

These rebates used to be limited to the total price of a drug, so drug manufacturers never had to pay a rebate that was higher than the drug price. However, the new rule removes this limit.

As such, beginning Jan. 1, manufacturers that made large increases in drug prices in recent years could be forced to pay rebates that are higher than their retail prices, thus incurring losses on these items.

Producing generic versions allows drug manufacturers to avoid such a situation. Generic versions are seen as new, separate products that do not have the burden of past price increases of the branded item.

AAFA also advised people to quickly consult with their insurance company to find out which asthma medications are covered under their plans.

In a statement to AAFA, GSK said that “the transition from branded to authorized generics will not have an impact on our ability to supply the market and we expect minimal disruption for patients. … The authorized generic may potentially be a lower cost alternative to patients, depending on their insurance coverage and benefit design.”

Source: Epoch Times

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