Interventions of Interest:

  • Valbenazine (Ingrezza®, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc)
  • Deutetrabenazine (Austedo®, Teva)
  • Tetrabenazine (Xenazine®, Ovation Pharmaceuticals)

Tardive dyskinesia is a serious and disabling movement disorder that affects individuals treated with antipsychotic agents for a variety of mental health conditions. Though prevention and treatment primarily focus on stopping or changing the offending antipsychotic agent, for some individuals there are no other effective treatment options, and symptoms can persist after discontinuing or changing antipsychotic therapy.

Evidence from ICER’s report suggests the drugs offer short-term benefits but are vastly overpriced, leading to “low value” designation and triggering ICER’s Affordability and Access Alert.

Date of Review: December 2017

For questions or additional information, please contact info@icer.org.

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Final Documents

Below you will find the final documents from the assessment review process:

ICER’s Chief Scientific Officer Dan Ollendorf, PhD stated:

“While more research is needed to understand the long-term benefits and harms of VMAT2 inhibitors, these drugs represent an important step forward for patients living with tardive dyskinesia. Unfortunately, applying a rare-disease pricing strategy to therapies used to treat a much more common, chronic condition creates unsustainable financial barriers for patients and the health care system. Manufacturers and payers must collaborate to develop strategies that allow access to these therapies for those who most need them, without straining health care budgets or passing high costs on to patients.”