Novartis announced plans to launch a direct-to-patient (DTP) platform in the US, offering cash-paying patients prescribed Cosentyx (secukinumab) the option to purchase it at a 55% discount off the list price beginning November 1, 2025. The move positions Novartis among several major pharmaceutical companies implementing significant price reductions ahead of the Trump administration's September 29 deadline for drug price cuts.
Strategic Response to Pricing Pressure
The direct-to-patient platform launch comes after President Trump issued a letter to pharmaceutical companies in July setting a deadline of September 29 to impose cuts on drug prices. Novartis joins AstraZeneca, which announced up to 70% discounts on its asthma and diabetes drugs, and Bristol Myers Squibb, which offered up to 80% discounts on its plaque psoriasis drug and expanded discounts on blood clot medication Eliquis.
"Breakthrough innovation is what drives us at Novartis, in scientific research, medicine development, and in the ways in which we deliver our innovation to patients," said Victor Bultó, President, US for Novartis. "In the US, we have long recognized that we need new ways to reach patients more directly by removing barriers in the system."
Cosentyx Market Position and Clinical Profile
Cosentyx represents Novartis' top-selling product in the US and is a fully human biologic that directly inhibits interleukin-17A, an important cytokine involved in inflammation underlying multiple immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. The FDA-approved treatment addresses psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis in adults, as well as pediatric conditions including psoriasis, enthesitis-related arthritis, and juvenile psoriatic arthritis.
Since its 2015 launch, Cosentyx has been used to treat more than 1.8 million patients globally and is now approved in over 100 countries. The drug has been studied clinically for more than 17 years and is supported by robust evidence and 10 years of real-world data demonstrating long-term safety and sustained efficacy.
Platform Expansion and Business Model Innovation
Through the DTP platform, Novartis will offer Cosentyx to American patients at a price that reflects the average savings that insurers and pharmacy benefit managers receive. The company describes the Cosentyx DTP platform as a proof-of-concept for a direct-selling model for specialty medicines that would ideally work alongside insurance to help improve patient affordability.
Novartis intends to offer a DTP option for additional medicines in its portfolio as appropriate and is exploring a direct-to-business model, selling Cosentyx and potentially additional medicines to large employers as another way to increase access and affordability.
Existing Patient Assistance Programs
The new DTP platform presents an additional option alongside Novartis' existing multiple programs to help patients access Cosentyx. Eligible US Cosentyx patients with commercial insurance may pay as little as $0 for their prescription through current programs. Additionally, eligible commercially insured patients can receive help investigating their insurance coverage, and those appealing an initial denial of coverage may be eligible to receive Cosentyx at no cost for up to two years.
For patients who cannot afford the cost of their Novartis medication, are uninsured or have government insurance, and meet income guidelines and other eligibility criteria, the Novartis Patient Assistance Foundation, Inc. (NPAF), an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit entity, provides Cosentyx at no cost.
