Thousand Oaks-based Amgen announced on May 2 that it has reached a “first-of-its-kind contract” with health care company Harvard Pilgrim.

The contract provides Harvard Pilgrim with a rebate for the cost of Repatha for any eligible patient who has a heart attack or stroke while on Repatha.

“Amgen is committed to combating cardiovascular disease, one of the largest public health concerns in the world, and our value-based partnership with Harvard Pilgrim further demonstrates our confidence in the significant value that Repatha can bring to patients, payers and society,” said Joshua J. Ofman, senior vice president of global value, access and policy at Amgen. “We look forward to partnering with other payers to create similar outcomes-based contracts for Repatha.”

Repatha is approved in more than 40 countries, including the U.S., Japan, Canada and in all 28 countries that are members of the European Union. Applications in other countries are pending.

Repatha is given by injection every two or four weeks, and is intended for patients who have an inherited disorder resulting in high levels of cholesterol or cardiovascular disease conditions, such as heart attack or stroke.

“Repatha has been shown to have a significant outcome on reducing cardiovascular morbidity for high risk individuals with elevated LDL cholesterol,” said Harvard Pilgrim Chief Medical Officer Michael Sherman.

He said more partnerships are coming.

“We hope to negotiate more contracts of this type, in which a pharmaceutical company truly has ‘skin in the game’ going forward,” Sherman said. “This agreement is the first we have signed in which there is a full refund of all costs related to the medication if the patient experiences a heart attack or stroke while taking it.”

• Contact Joshua Molina at jmolina@pacbiztimes.com.