Price of preterm-birth medicine cut

KV Pharmaceutical of St. Louis announced that it was reducing the price of the drug, sold as Makena, to $690 an injection. KV also said it was expanding its program to reduce costs further to women who still cannot afford the medication. “Ensuring access to an FDA-approved sterile, injectionable medication, manufactured under mandatory strict quality controls, is in the best interests of all high-risk women,’’ said Greg Divis, KV’s president.

Divis said the company was taking the steps because of the priceconcerns raised, given the tight budgets state Medicaid programs face.

“The reduced price is a step in the right direction,’’ said US Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California.