US Senator Probes GSK’s Halt Of Children’s Asthma Inhaler

Hassan states choice decreases access for low-income clients

Democrat accuses GSK of evading Medicaid refund commitments British drugmaker blames external aspects for reduced gain access to

GSK says it supports free inhaler program for qualified clients

(Adds GSK remarks in paragraphs 4, 9-10)

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON, June 27 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan stated on Friday she is introducing an examination into British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline’s decision to discontinue a widely utilized asthma inhaler for kids.

Hassan stated in letters sent on Friday to GSK and its authorized generic distributor, Prasco Laboratories, and seen by Reuters that the choice to get rid of Flovent HFA from the marketplace in January 2024 had actually added to a spike in hospitalizations and deaths linked to asthma complications.

She required documents detailing the reasoning behind the decision, and its monetary and health effects.

“We stay dedicated to making sure that development and price can coexist and are concentrated on enhancing health outcomes for clients,” a GSK spokesperson stated.

Hassan, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Healthcare Subcommittee, gotten in touch with GSK to restore the inhaler to market. She also requested internal rates files, rebate data and communications with regulators by July 18.

She accused GSK of evading refund commitments to Medicaid, which offers health coverage to 71 million low-income individuals and is among the biggest U.S. safety-net programs. In addition, GSK’s choice to replace the brand-name inhaler with a higher-cost authorized generic had actually decreased access for low-income clients, Hassan stated.

“Children across the country have actually faced dangerous medical challenges and households have faced more costly or less effective alternative medications – when these choices are offered at all,” Hassan composed in her letter.

GSK told Hassan in action to an earlier letter she sent in May last year that Prasco manages pricing of the generic. Hassan stated both companies failed to ensure affordability of the treatment, adding to delays or denials of insurance protection.

The company took steps to make the licensed generic more accessible when it introduced in 2022 however external factors affected client access, its spokesperson stated on Friday.

Prasco has since launched a patient assistance program in December 2024 that offers free inhalers to qualified patients who can not manage it, the GSK spokesperson stated, and GSK has supported the program by supplying Prasco with supply.

Hassan pointed out a Johns Hopkins analysis which discovered that GSK’s relocation saved the company $367 million in 2024 Medicaid refunds while costing the program over $550 million. Parents reported paying up to $150 per inhaler for the generic, compared to $10 for Flovent.

GSK said in 2015 it would cap out-of-pocket costs for all its inhaled asthma and persistent lung illness medications at $35 monthly for eligible clients in the United States beginning January 2025, following similar moves by its competitors.

The statement came after lawmakers criticized manufacturers over high costs, and released an investigation to check out the costs at which these were sold in the United States versus other countries. (Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Mark Porter)