Pharmacy benefit managers
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Thursday’s announcement comes after the insurance giant last week said it would remove AbbVie’s Humira from its major formularies starting in 2025, replacing the blockbuster with more affordable biosimilars.
The chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability wants the CEOs of CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Optum Rx to fix statements they made in a hearing last month that contradicted the committee’s and Federal Trade Commission’s findings.
Mirroring fellow pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark, Cigna’s Express Scripts is taking Humira off its major commercial formularies starting next year and focusing on more affordable biosimilar options.
Executives from the three largest pharmacy benefit manager companies testified Tuesday before Congress that rising drug prices in the U.S. are due to pharma companies taking advantage of market exclusivities and excessive charges.
In a bid to take advantage of Humira’s slow loss of market share, Boehringer Ingelheim is offering its biosimilar at a 92% discount exclusively to patients who buy the product on GoodRx.
As scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers mounts, a House committee will hold a hearing on the alleged anticompetitive business practices of these middlemen.
Pfizer selects its candidate for the oral GLP-1 race as Eli Lilly strives to overtake Novo Nordisk in the injectable weight-loss drug space. Meanwhile, pressure builds to reduce drug prices in the U.S.
The Federal Trade Commission criticized the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers this week, but drugmakers are also at fault for the high costs of medicines.
The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bill aimed at limiting the number of patents drugmakers can introduce and making it easier for generic and biosimilar competitors to enter the market.
The Federal Trade Commission plans to file lawsuits against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers over allegedly steering patients away from less expensive drugs, according to The Wall Street Journal.