Heart-Failure Medication for Black People Available at Higher Price than Expected

The price for the heart failure medication BiDil, the first medication designed for a specific racial group that is approved by FDA, was set at $1.80 per pill. NitroMed announced the price last Thursday, together with a generous assistance program for patients with no prescription drug insurance coverage.

This is almost twice the price of rival heart-failure treatments and is considered very high by analysts. The daily cost of taking BiDil will be at least $5.40 and can be as high as $10.80, depending on the dosage, while it was expected to be around $3, taking into account the daily costs of other heart-failure drugs currently available on the market.

The higher pricing strategy of NitroMed will be additionally explained by the company’s officials at a shareholder meeting this week. The medication was planned for market introduction on Monday.

The assistance program was designed for a number of patients estimated at 75,000, who do not have prescription drug coverage, but could benefit from the medication. The company offers BiDil at no cost to patients with annual incomes of less than 300% of the federal poverty level, and to patients without prescription drug coverage at $25 monthly, regardless of annual income.

However, there were voices that said this charity program was just a way to blunt criticism about the drug's cost (Dr. Gregg Bloche, medical ethicist at Georgetown University Law Center).

Dr. Steven Nissen, cardiologist, who led the FDA advisory panel that approved the drug last month, told the New York Times: "I'm disappointed in the decision to price BiDil beyond the financial means of many patients who might benefit." As a consequence of this high price strategy, to patients who cannot afford the medication, some physicians might attempt to prescribe the generic ingredients of BiDil -- isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine, opined New York Times.

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