A newly approved medication to treat postpartum depression will cost $15,900 per 14-day course, before insurance, when it reaches the market later this year, raising concerns among doctors and researchers that some patients may have trouble paying for the drug.
The medicine, Zurzuvae, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August and is the first medicine cleared for postpartum depression that’s taken as a pill. Drugmaker Sage Therapeutics said Tuesday that the drug is expected to become available in December and that it and partner Biogen are talking with insurers about coverage plans.
Is, antidepressants that “take weeks to kick in and must continue being taken on a daily basis for at least six to 12 months,” said Dr. Katrina Furey, a psychiatrist in private practice specializing in women’s mental health and reproductive psychiatry, and a clinical instructor at Yale University.The price of Zurzuvae seems especially high in comparison with those medicines, Furey said.
Is, which include the generic versions of drugs like Prozac and Zoloft, typically cost less than $20 a month, according to data from GoodRx.“It remains to be seen how much insurance companies will cover it or if they will require women to ‘fail’ treatment with less-expensive Is before paying for this new treatment,” Furey said. “I hope that is not the case and that its price will not be a barrier to accessing this treatment.”She noted, though, that the $15,900 price tag is less than half that of an earlier postpartum depression drug from Sage called Zulresso. Priced at about $35,000, that drug is given via IV infusion over the course of 60 hours in a hospital.
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