Affordable Neupogen and Intralipids

I just put this together for the ladies on Fertility Friend on the immunology board by request, so I'm posting it here to for anyone searching! These are sometimes prescribed for women suffering from immune related loss/infertility. I have elevated Natural Killer Cells and alloimmune issues (6 HLA matches with my husband).

Affordable Intralipid Infusions

Prices may vary by region in the US, but the best price I've seen and used was by hiring the Walgreens Infusion Service to come to my home for an Intralipid Infusion: 20% IV, 100 ml, infused over 2 hours. (This was going to cost $300 at a local office with a private doctor.)

As self-pay, I paid:

$80 for Infusion Nurse
$50 for the Intralipids
$15 for Supplies
=$155.00

Affordable Neupogen
Most insurance companies (not all, so check!) will not cover Neupogen for pregnancy. I priced Neupogen from many sources, pharmacies, etc. One of the challenges with Neupogen is that it must be refrigerated/kept cold and cannot be jostled/shaken, which makes ordering it in the mail from outside one's country very difficult.

The best price I found was by purchasing a Walgreens "Prescription Club Membership" for $20 (individuals) or $35 (families) a year. By having that membership, one can save almost $100 a vial on Neupogen as well as many other medications.

At this time, the biggest savings is to purchase the 300mcg/1 ml vial of Neupgoen (not prefilled!!) and not the 480mcg/1.5ml. If you purchase it in bulk, you save a little more money too. 1 vial=$249.99 or in bulk (3+) 1 vial=$246.

My cost as of of May 2012:

4 vials of Neupogen, 300mcg/1ml = $246 a vial ($984 total)
with the Walgreens Prescription Club Membership

Neupogen is prescribed based on body weight, so it will vary a bit based on what you weigh. I am able to get a little more than 5 doses out of each 300mcg/1ml vial. It is taken starting at ovulation, so assuming I take it for 11 days each TTC cycle, it costs $492 in a BFN cycle. In a pregnancy cycle, taking it for a full 30 days, it will cost $1476 per month. It is taken for the first nine weeks, so for a pregnancy it would cost $3444 (in my case).

To me, this is reasonable given the cost of IVIG or LIT as alternatives to Neupogen. IVIG is usually about $3000 per infusion and multiple infusions are generally needed. Getting LIT involves travel to Mexico at this time, so that adds up over several visits.