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Drug will cost $239 a month via portal

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Move follows July warning from Trump

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Pharma companies under pressure to match lower prices in

other

countries

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Amgen ( AMGN ) on Monday

launched direct-to-consumer U.S. sales of its cholesterol

medication Repatha at a discounted cash price, becoming the

latest pharmaceutical company responding to U.S. political

pressure to lower drug prices.

The injected drug, with sales of $2.2 billion last year,

will have a monthly price of $239, or nearly 60% below its

current U.S. list price, the company said. It said the price

matches the lowest it now receives in any economically developed

country.

Amgen ( AMGN ) said the new program is open to eligible U.S.

patients, including those who are uninsured or prefer to pay

cash for medications. There are no plans, however, to process

insurance coverage for purchases through the consumer portal,

which will be called AmgenNow.

Few people in the U.S. pay cash for prescription

medications. Most have insurance - either commercial or public

plans like Medicare - that charge them a fixed co-payment or

percentage of a drug cost. Insurers typically receive discounts

or rebates directly from drug manufacturers, bringing costs well

below list prices.

For people without health insurance, drugmakers often offer

reduced-cost or free drug programs.

To keep the costs of expensive drugs under control,

insurance plans can require doctors to seek authorization for a

new prescription or try older medications first. People

purchasing through AmgenNow will not be subject to those

requirements, Amgen ( AMGN ) said.

Amgen ( AMGN ) was one of 17 major drug companies that received a

letter from President Donald Trump in July demanding they charge

U.S. patients the same price as people in other high-income

countries, create direct-to-consumer channels and increase

investment in the U.S. Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs

on branded drugs.

In response, Pfizer last week agreed to reduce prescription

drug prices for Medicaid, which covers low-income people, to

match lower prices overseas and said it would launch

direct-to-consumer sales of a handful of its drugs.

Pfizer also said it would offer most-favored-nation pricing

on new drugs launched in the U.S., and Trump flagged that other

drugmakers would follow suit.

The Trump administration said it plans to launch, likely

early next year, a website called TrumpRx that will help

consumers search for a drug to see if they can buy it directly

from its manufacturer. Amgen ( AMGN ) said its portal will be accessible

through TrumpRx.

The drugmaker, based in Thousand Oaks, California, said it

intends to eventually add other medicines to AmgenNow.

Repatha targets PCSK9, a protein that maintains "bad" LDL

cholesterol in the blood, and helps people who don't benefit

from older statin pills, which block the liver's production of

LDL cholesterol.

Amgen ( AMGN ) last week said a large study found that Repatha, which

was approved by regulators in 2015, reduced the risk of major

cardiovascular events, including death, in people without a

prior history of heart attack or stroke.

Other companies, including Merck ( MRK ), are developing

oral PCSK9 drugs.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)