This form of zolpidem tartrate now costs over 800% more A small...

This form of zolpidem tartrate now costs over 800% more

A small Colorado drugmaker recently increased the price for a spray form of sleep aid zolpidem tartrate (Ambien—Sanofi Aventis) by as much as 843%. So far in 2018, companies have made 3,653 price increases on 1,045 different drug products, according to Raymond James & Associates.
A small Colorado drugmaker recently increased the price for a spray form of sleep aid zolpidem tartrate (Ambien—Sanofi Aventis) by as much as 843%. So far in 2018, companies have made 3,653 price increases on 1,045 different drug products, according to Raymond James & Associates. The median price increase is 8%, but some specific increases have been far greater. Aytu BioScience raised the list price of a 7.7 milliliter bottle of its sleep aid to $659 from $69.88, while increasing the price of a 4.5 milliliter bottle by 747% to $329.50. The drug is a spray version of the sleep aid. CEO Josh Disbrow said Aytu raised Zolpimist's list price to bring it in line with the cost of other brand-name sleep drugs. He said Zolpimist was for the small number of patients willing to pay more, often out of their own pockets, for the oral spray than for lower-priced tablets. Aytu, of Englewood, CO, raised the price about a month after buying the rights to sell the drug in the United States and Canada from Magna Pharmaceuticals.