Biopharmaceutical manufacturer BioMarin is giving 340B covered entities refunds for overcharges on five of its six approved medicines from Q1 2019 through Q4 2020.
The California-based company posted a notice about the availability of the refunds last week on the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) website. The notice said BioMarin recalculated its 340B ceiling prices for the two-year period, but it did not state the reason why the company did so.
“BioMarin has used chargeback data to identify covered entities that may be eligible for a
potential refund based on the recalculated 340B ceiling prices and to identify potential payment amounts to affected 340B covered entities,” the public notice says. “BioMarin will contact any 340B covered entity that may be owed a refund.”
BioMarin makes six enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases. It is providing 340B refunds on five of the six, apparently for all dosage sizes and strengths.
BioMarin’s products are some of the most expensive ones marketed in the U.S. One of the drugs that BioMarin charged too much for, Brineura, for Batten disease, costs about $700,000 annually, the company said when the drug was launched in 2017. Vimizin, for Morquio A syndrome, was projected to cost $380,000 annually when it came on the market in 2014.
The three other drugs that BioMarin is providing refunds on are Naglazyme (estimated annual cost $350,000), Palynziq ($267,000/year), and Kuvan ($90,000/year).
