Washington (March 7, 2024) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, released the following statement on Boehringer Ingelheim’s (BI’s) announcement that the company would cap out of pocket costs for all of their inhalers at $35 for uninsured and underinsured patients and reduce the list price on some inhalers. BI is one of the four biggest manufacturers of inhalers sold in the United States. 

“Boehringer Ingelheim’s decision to cap the price of inhalers at $35 and reduce the list price of some of their products is recognition that unaffordable drug prices are unacceptable and immoral. While this is a positive step towards ensuring more Americans can afford their inhalers, BI’s inhaler price caps should only be the start. No American should struggle to breathe while drug manufacturers inhale billions in profit. I call on AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Teva to follow suit. We must work to ensure that corporate greed doesn’t get in the way of every lifesaving and life-sustaining medication reaching the people who need it most.”

In January, Senator Markey joined Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) in launching an investigation into inhaler prices by sending letters to the CEOs of AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, and Teva. These companies typically charge between $200 and $600 for inhaler products. 

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