The company’s Humira biosimilar Yusimry will launch in July with a $995 list price. Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy will sell it at a list price of $569.27 plus fees.
Pictured: Mark Cuban/Courtesy of Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Thursday, Coherus BioSciences announced plans to launch Yusimry (adalimumab-aqvh), its biosimilar to AbbVie’s Humira (adalimumab), with a $995 price tag for two autoinjectors, representing an approximately 85% discount to the branded product’s sale price of $6,922.
At this list price, Yusimry is expected to be the most affordable adalimumab offering in the U.S. when it launches in July, according to the company’s news release. No sales or purchase orders are allowed to take place before its launch date.
The California-based company also inked a partnership with Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, to sell Yusimry at a list price of $569.27, plus dispensing and shipping fees.
This partnership and the steep Yusimry discount is Coherus’ response to the “large, unmet need for improved access and affordability in the U.S. health care system,” Coherus CEO Denny Lanfear said in a statement.
“We believe that Yusimry can be an affordable solution for patients who are uninsured, underinsured, or recently separated from Medicaid coverage,” Chris Slavinsky, chief business officer at Coherus, said in a statement.
According to medical information website Drugs.com, uninsured patients need to pay around $6,420 for two Humira autoinjectors, though the actual price will ultimately depend on the specific Humira product and strength. Prices may also vary across different pharmacies.
Yusimry is a Humira biosimilar and uses the same active ingredient—the monoclonal antibody adalimumab—to block the tumor necrosis factor cytokine, which in turn eases the inflammation that gives rise to the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis, as well as other inflammatory conditions such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Coherus’ biosimilar won the FDA’s approval in December 2021 for these conditions.
Yusimry joins a growing group of Humira biosimilars eating away at the blockbuster’s sales following the expiration of its patent protections. In its first-quarter earnings report in April 2023, AbbVie revealed that biosimilar erosion has taken more than 25% off of the global revenues from Humira. Much of this could be attributed to Amgen’s Amjevita, which hit the U.S. market in January of this year.
In the company’s year-end 2022 report, AbbVie indicated that sales for its blockbuster immuno asset took a 22% hit in international sales and it expects revenues to drop further by 37% in 2023. Including Coherus’ Yusimry, around eight other biosimilars will follow Amjevita’s suit and enter the U.S. by mid-2023.
Tristan Manalac is an independent science writer based in metro Manila, Philippines. He can be reached at tristan@tristanmanalac.com or tristan.manalac@biospace.com.
