Boehringer breaks off German pricing talks
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Ingelheim, Germany) told BioCentury it broke off pricing negotiations with Germany's Statutory Health Insurance Funds Association (GKV-Spitzenverband) for diabetes drug Trajenta linagliptin. Boehringer said GKV-Spitzenverband's suggested daily price of Trajenta, which was in the "low double-digit cent" range, was not acceptable. Boehringer is calling for a reassessment of Trajenta's benefit by Germany's Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) and the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). The company also is considering legal options to evaluate the validity of some procedures under Germany's AMNOG pricing law.
When pricing discussions began on Monday, Boehringer suggested a daily therapy cost of EUR 1.20, which the company said is below the drug's average European daily cost of EUR 1.27. However, GKV-Spitzenverband wanted a price comparable to that of the much cheaper sulfonylurea, according to Boehringer. GKV-Spitzenverband could not be reached for comment. ...