US Senate committee investigates asthma inhaler prices
US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has demanded information about brand-name asthma inhaler patents and prices from four major manufacturers. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee chair and several Democratic senators sent demand letters on Jan 8, 2024, to AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, and Teva Pharmaceuticals, accusing the firms of “manipulating the patent system”. The senators cited AstraZeneca’s US$645 price tag for an inhaler it sells for $49 in the UK and Teva charging $286 in the USA for an inhaler that costs $9 in Germany—more than 30 times difference in price.