Amgen introduces comprehensive financial assistance programs for cancer patients

Amgen today announced Amgen^TM Oncology Assistance (AOA), a comprehensive, multi-faceted financial assistance program that will include a "cap" on out-of-pocket co-payments for cancer patients receiving Vectibix^TM (panitumumab). Through AOA, patients who are uninsured, underinsured, or unable to afford their insurance co-payments will receive help obtaining financial support for Amgen's cancer medicines.

"We recognize that treating cancer is expensive and our industry needs to find new ways to ease the financial burden on cancer patients, their families and society," said Kevin Sharer, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen. "Our goal is to create the most comprehensive oncology access program in the industry, and we are starting with Amgen Oncology Assistance. To ensure patients have access to Vectibix, we have priced it at approximately 20 percent less than the other antibody on the market and created the Vectibix Cap, which is the first of its kind for colorectal cancer patients."

The AOA program will be available for U.S. cancer patients and will launch in October. AOA will expand and consolidate the company's existing financial assistance programs into a simplified package with a single gateway:

• The new Vectibix Cap will limit total patient co-payments for Vectibix in the United States, regardless of income or insurance status. Once a patient reaches the cap (five percent of their adjusted gross income), he or she will become eligible for the SAFETY NET® Foundation.

• The SAFETY NET Foundation is a well-established patient assistance program that provides Amgen oncology medicines at no cost to qualifying uninsured patients. Available to patients with household adjusted gross incomes of up to $75,000 per year, The SAFETY NET Foundation is one of the most generous oncology product donation programs in the industry.

• Amgen also donates millions of dollars to independent third-party administered patient assistance programs to help reduce the financial burden for uninsured or low-income patients.

These programs build on Amgen's Reimbursement Connection®, which has been addressing the provider community's reimbursement questions regarding Amgen therapies for more than 15 years. For more information about Amgen Oncology Assistance, please visit www.amgen.com.

Source : Porter Novelli