CivicaScript Launches Generic Abiraterone

CivicaScript is now offering to pharmacies abiraterone 250 mg for $160 per bottle of 120 tablets, which is typically a month’s supply . CivicaScript recommends that pharmacies charge patients no more than $171 per bottle (CivicaScript’s maximum retail price).

This is significantly less than prices offered at many pharmacies, according to GoodRx. The lowest GoodRx price for the most common version of abiraterone is around $187.00, 96% off the average retail price of $5,024.47.

Abiraterone is hormone therapy that is used together with prednisone to treat patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Its branded counterparts include Janssen’s Zytiga, which is available as 250 mg or 500 mg tablets, and Sun Pharma’s Yonsa, which is available as a 125 mg tablet.

Initially, CivicaScript’s abiraterone will be available through Lumicera Health Services, a specialty pharmacy that focuses on medicines for chronic and serious conditions, and through Intermountain Healthcare. Additional pharmacies will be listed on the CivicaScript website as they come on board.

Starting in 2024, CivicaScript plans to distribute low-priced insulin. Civica is building a manufacturing facility in Petersburg, Virginia, and has entered into a co-development and commercial agreement with GeneSys Biologics for three insulin biosimilars: glargine, lispro and aspart (biologics corresponding to Lantus, Humalog and Novolog, respectively).Civica plans to set a recommended price to the consumer of no more than $30 per insulin vial and no more than $55 for a box of five insulin pen cartridges, a significant discount to prices charged to uninsured individuals today.

Related: Civica’s Allan Coukell Talks about Its Insulin Program

CivicaScript was co-founded in 2020 by Civica Inc., the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and 18 independent and locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies to bring affordable versions of common but high-priced generic medicines to market.

Additionally, the pharmacy benefit manager Navitus Health Solutions last month announced it had joined CivicaScript as a founding member, offering CivicaScript’s products alongside other therapies, and members will be incentivized to use those.

“This is an important milestone in our shared commitment to help make prescription drugs more affordable for millions of Americans. No one should have to face breaking the bank from buying a life-saving medication,” Kim Keck, president and CEO of BCBSA, said in a statement.