Febuxostat for Gout

[question everything]

A friend was diagnosed with gout last year and has been taking the above medication.

Co-Pay was $29.55 and the insurance paid $88.64 for 90 tablets (40 mg).

It was time to refill and now the co-pay is... $90.96! Now a glance at the insurance web page, which has not yet processed looks like a total of $700!

What is so special about it? Does it use rare earth minerals?

Same manufacturer: Alembic Pharmaceuticals.

[NewHendoLib]

1. check out the Wiki entry - should be generic - link below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Febuxostat

not a very complex molecule. I worked for Big Pharma for 25 years. Two things can also influence cost of medicines - "what the market will bear" and return for investors. All I can say is I am glad I am retired from it all.

[Tetrachloride]

2. Diet works for me, but i do have some stand by medicine

i will check the maker

[Princess Turandot]

3. Drugs.com estimates Febuxostat will cost $287.48 for 90 tablets...

Is he sure they are giving him the generic drug (which is Febuxostat)?
The cost of the brand name drug, Uloric, is 357.03, but for only 30 pills.

Febuxostat: https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/febuxostat#oral-tablet-40-mg
Uloric: https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/uloric

[bottomofthehill]

4. Give up on the Uloric, take allopurinol.

It costs Penies, has been around years has no black box warning and works for the GREAT majority of people

[question everything]

5. I asked. Started with allopurinol, created hives...

[bottomofthehill]

6. That's too bad.

The FDA has mandated that the gout drug febuxostat (Uloric) carry a boxed warning to alert clinicians and patients to the increased risk for cardiovascular (CV) death with the drug. The warning also states that febuxostat use should be limited to patients who do not respond to or cannot tolerate allopurinol.