CVS’ Drug-Benefits Unit Makes Exclusive Deal To Cover Amgen’s New Cholesterol Drug
The agreement, which makes Repatha the only drug in a new class of cholesterol-lowering medicines that will be covered by Caremark — the CVS pharmacy benefits manager — excludes a competing drug from Regeneron and Sanofi.
The Wall Street Journal:
CVS Chooses Repatha As New Cholesterol Drug For Caremark
CVS Health Corp. said Monday that Amgen Inc.’s Repatha will be the only drug of a new class of cholesterol-lowering injections in its Caremark pharmacy-benefits manager. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved Repatha and rival drug Praluent, developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sanofi SA, as a new way to treat high cholesterol. The new class of drugs, which are known as PCSK9 inhibitors, has drawn attention for their potential to combat heart disease but also for their potential high costs to the health care system. Repatha costs about $14,100 a year and Praluent costs about $14,600. (Hufford, 11/23)
Bloomberg:
CVS Makes Exclusive Deal To Cover Amgen’s Cholesterol Drug
CVS Health Corp.’s drug-benefits unit will cover Amgen Inc.’s new cholesterol-cutting injections while excluding a competing treatment from Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., pushing for savings from medications that list for more than $14,000 a year. ... While the discount CVS obtained from Amgen was “substantial,” [CVS chief medical officer Troyen] Brennan said he would not reveal the amount or the length of the contract with Amgen. CVS will continue to require that prescriptions for Amgen’s drug be approved in advance, a practice known as prior authorization that can limit use of the medicine. (Langreth, 11/23)
Reuters:
CVS Chooses Amgen's New Cholesterol Drug Over Competitor
Praluent costs $14,600 for a year of treatment and Amgen set an annual price of $14,100 for its Repatha. The companies were expected to offer rebates and discounts that would bring down the cost to the mid-$12,000 range. In comparison, the annual cost of generic statins, which are used by millions of Americans who have high levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is in the hundreds of dollars. ... The decision contrasts with that of Express Scripts Holdings Corp, the largest U.S. drug benefit manager, which signed deals to provide coverage for both drugs (Humer, 11/23)
Meanwhile, STAT offers two reports on trends within the pharmaceutical industry, including one that may lead to insurers and drug makers joining forces -
STAT:
At Walgreens And CVS, A Push To Collect Customer Health Data By Dangling Discounts
Want $50 off your next purchase at Walgreens? You’ll have to run 2,000 miles. Or step on a scale 2,000 times. Or take 2,000 readings of your blood glucose level. And you’ll have to let the global pharmacy chain track all that data — and give them permission to mine it to target you with ads. ... Pharmacies across the US are dangling perks to coax their customers to relinquish all sorts of personal information, ranging from daily fluctuations in their weight to their progress in quitting smoking to their real-time location every minute of the day. (Robbins, 11/23)
STAT:
Drug Makers And Insurers, Longtime Rivals, Eye An Alliance On Prices
With rising drug prices such a hot topic here, drug makers and health insurers are both coming under heavy fire. So much fire that they’re considering a radical response: working together. After years of relentlessly attacking one another, leaders of the pharmaceutical industry and the health insurance lobby are considering — warily — cooperating to shape any federal legislation that emerges from the public outrage at the high cost of medications. (Scott, 11/24)
