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- CivicaScript, based in Lehi, significantly reduces costs for one generic prostate cancer drug.
- The company saved consumers 64% and insurers 92% on the drug, benefiting 1,100 patients in 2022 and 2023.
- CivicaScript plans to provide more generic drugs at lower costs, using transparency.
LEHI—A Utah company is making a difference, reducing the cost of at least one generic medication and planning to offer more medications at lower costs to patients.
CivicaScript was created in 2020 with the intent to use "disruptive collaboration" to reduce the prices of certain higher-priced generic medications. A report published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine found switching to medication from CivicaScript has saved consumers 64% and health insurance providers 92%.
Brent J. Eberle, the company's president, said Wednesday that studies show lower medication costs improve health outcomes. When patients can afford the medications, they are more likely to follow prescription instructions from their doctors.
"It is gratifying to see the savings impact we are having even with just one product in a fairly short time frame," he said.
The published report said prostate cancer patients who switched from other generic abiraterone acetate options to the CivicaScript-produced drug saved an average of $81 each month and had more stable monthly costs. Health care plans for patients switching to the same drug saved an average of $1,796 each month, including Medicare and Medicaid.
The report looked at data from pharmacy claims throughout 2022 and 2023, and CivicaScript's generic abiraterone was launched in August of 2022. By the end of that period, about 1,100 patients were using the new version of the drug.
Eberle said the company plans to launch more products this year, bringing even more savings — and this report from its "proof-of-concept" drug proves the company's theory that disruptive collaboration has a powerful effect.
"We are demonstrating that our combination of transparency and sustainable low pricing has the potential to transform the system, reducing drug costs and improving patient access to the medicines they need to stay healthy," he said.
CivicaScript follows its sister company CivicaRx in efforts to provide pharmaceutical products at the "lowest sustainable cost to increase patient access and affordability," the company explained in a statement on Wednesday.
The company manufactures low-cost generic medications and works to pass cost savings directly to patients. In its statement, CivicaScript said it focuses on transparency and collaboration, making the price available to everyone involved in the process.
Carter Dredge, executive director of the Intermountain Health Institute and co-author of the study, said the data shows aligning the interests of patients and health care institutions brings potential for creating "a more equitable, cost-effective health care system."
CivicaRx was started before CivicaScript and has focused on ending drug shortages and fixing broken markets. Its website explains that it works with hospital pharmacists to determine which medications to prioritize. CivicaScript builds on the company's mission by focusing on providing generic, outpatient medications at lower costs.
