-- Company
Expands GATCF to Cover Tarceva Patients Enrolled in
Medicare Part D --
Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) today
announced the expansion of its current patient
assistance program, the Genentech Access to Care
Foundation (GATCF), to help address the needs of
financially eligible Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in
Part D who are prescribed Tarceva® (erlotinib).
The
expansion allows financially eligible patients enrolled
in a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan to receive
assistance for Tarceva from Genentech — outside of their
Part D plan. For more information on potential
assistance options, please call (888) 249-4918 or visit
http://www.SPOConline.com.
Tarceva is a once-a-day pill approved for locally
advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer after
failure of at least one prior chemotherapy regimen, and
in combination with gemcitabine chemotherapy for the
first-line treatment of patients with locally advanced,
unresectable or metastatic pancreatic cancer.
The
expansion is designed to help financially needy patients
enrolled in Medicare Part D plans, and it is part of
Genentech's ongoing efforts to ensure that no patient
goes without a Genentech therapy because of an inability
to pay. This expansion is especially important for Part
D enrollees who may be affected by the annual coverage
gap, commonly referred to as the "doughnut hole." Under
the standard Medicare plan, federal payments for drug
purchases stop when total Part D drug spending reaches
the limit of $2,400. At that point beneficiaries
confront the doughnut hole and must pay 100 percent of
costs until they have spent a total of $3,850 of their
own money. The federal subsidy then resumes, paying 95
percent of any additional expenses.
"We are very
pleased with the steps Genentech is taking to help some
of the most vulnerable people with Medicare by ensuring
they will be able to access the medicines they need,"
said Leslie V. Norwalk, Acting Administrator of the
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). "It's a
win-win for patients: the benefits of drug coverage plus
additional assistance from manufacturers for those most
in need."
Under the
GATCF expansion, eligible patients will receive Tarceva
from GATCF for free. In order to ensure that a patient's
Part D prescription drug plan does not incur the costs
of Tarceva, Genentech worked with the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to enter into a
data sharing agreement, which will facilitate the
notification of Part D plans whose patients have
enrolled in the Tarceva GATCF expansion.
"There are
many barriers to accessing cancer drug treatment that
may affect patients, and Genentech is committed to
developing tailored solutions to help address financial
barriers. This agreement between Genentech and CMS is
also an example of how government and industry can work
together to meet patients' needs," said Alexander Hardy,
Head of Reimbursement, Managed Care and Customer
Operations at Genentech.
"This
program represents an important step for patients who
may otherwise be unable to follow their doctors'
treatment recommendations," said Kim Thiboldeaux,
President and Chief Executive Officer of The Wellness
Community. "We commend Genentech's continued work
towards ensuring access to necessary therapies."
About
Genentech's Commitment to Patient Access
Genentech is committed to eligible patients having
access to our therapies. For those eligible patients
treated for approved indications in the United States
who do not have insurance or who cannot afford their
out-of-pocket co-pay costs, Genentech has several
support programs. Since 1985, Genentech has donated free
product to uninsured patients and those deemed uninsured
due to payor denial through its Genentech® Access to
Care Foundation (GATCF) and the Genentech Endowment for
Cystic Fibrosis. In 2006 alone, GATCF supported over
14,000 patients by providing approximately $205 million
of free product. Since 2005, Genentech has donated
approximately $70 million to various independent public
charities that provide financial assistance to eligible
patients who cannot access needed medical treatment due
to co-pay costs. Through its Single Point of Contact (SPOC)
program, Genentech provides patients with assistance and
information on a broad array of reimbursement services
and support.
About
Genentech
Founded more than 30 years ago, Genentech is a leading
biotechnology company that discovers, develops,
manufactures, and commercializes biotherapeutics for
significant unmet medical needs. A considerable number
of the currently approved biotechnology products
originated from or are based on Genentech science.
Genentech manufactures and commercializes multiple
biotechnology products and licenses several additional
products to other companies. The company has
headquarters in South San Francisco, California and is
listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
DNA. For additional information about the company,
please visit
http://www.gene.com.