Novartis and Boehringer latest to join the growing trend to DTC sales
With US President Donald Trump pushing pharma to put America first and reduce US drug prices, which are much higher than anywhere else in the developed world, domestic and other drugmakers have been attracted to a new scheme to sell their medicines direct to consumers/patients, thus avoiding the substantial margins taken by middlemen.
AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) and Roche (ROG: SIX) are among the other firms that have DTC sales on their products in recent months.
Adding further to the list of such companies, Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) today announced plans to launch a direct-to-patient (DTP) platform in the USA which will come into effect on November 1, 2025, offering cash-paying patients prescribed its Cosentyx (secukinumab) the option to purchase it at a 55% discount off the list price.
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