The biotech company’s price for the drug is higher than the $10,000 to $25,000 Wall Street analysts expected.
Biogen is facing tough questions from Wall Street analysts over the $56,000 annual cost of its newly approved Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm—a price tag executives insist is “fair” and “responsible.”
Shares of Biogen surged 38% Monday after the FDA approved the company’s drug, scientifically known as aducanumab. It is the first medication cleared by US regulators to slow cognitive decline in people living with Alzheimer’s and the first new medicine for the disease in nearly two decades.
The biotech company said it is charging $56,000 for an annual course of the new treatment, higher than the $10,000 to $25,000 price Wall Street analysts were expecting. That’s the wholesale price, and the out-of-pocket cost patients will actually pay will depend on their health coverage.
Some analysts and advocacy groups questioned how the company could justify the price as medical experts continue to debate whether there’s enough evidence that the drug actually works and the industry faces criticism over drug prices.
