April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will host a

White House event with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday

to highlight their efforts to cut the cost of inhalers for

asthma suffers.

Sanders and other lawmakers in January criticized four

manufacturers of inhalers sold in the U.S. - AstraZeneca ( AZN ),

Boehringer, Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA.TA), and GSK (GSK.L), -

over prices that were much higher in the U.S. than in other

countries.

The Biden administration has also sought to crack down on

what it calls falsely claimed patents in an effort to increase

competition to lower inhaler costs.

In March, three of the four companies decided to cap

inhaler costs at $35.

Asthma impacts 27 million Americans, including more than

four million children, the White House said in a preview of the

event.

Biden has made lowering healthcare costs a key part of his

2024 re-election campaign.

Biden will also highlight successful efforts included in the

Inflation Reduction Act that placed a $2,000 cap on Medicare

prescription drugs and a separate $35 cap on insulin.

He will also use the event to push to expand the number of

Medicare drugs the federal government can negotiate with

pharmaceutical companies from 10 to 50, the White House said.

Part of 2022's Inflation Reduction Act allows Medicare to

negotiate prices for prescription drugs that had been

particularly expensive for the federal health program that

covers millions of Americans aged 65 and older as well as the

disabled.