There seems to be a lot of attention being paid to this piece of news right now! Let's hope this discount starts a bidding war on these protocols! I'm anxious to see some actual prices added to these reports. Shouldn't be long...
Anthem uses the pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co. to run its lists of covered drugs, also known as formularies. That makes the insurers deal with Gilead particularly striking, since Express Scripts struck a separate exclusive agreement with AbbVie last month. In return for a discount on Viekira Pak, Express Scripts agreed to use AbbVies drug for many other plans that the pharmacy benefit manager runs.
This news is meaningful in that Anthem -- Express Scripts largest customer -- didnt follow Express Scripts in preferring AbbVies regimen, said Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst with Evercore-ISI.
Hefty price tags for hepatitis C drugs have drawn criticism from insurers and lawmakers. Gileads Sovaldi costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, and Harvoni, which combines Sovaldi with another medication, taken as a single pill, costs $94,500 for 12 weeks. Viekira Paks 12-week price is $83,319.
After Express Scripts -- the U.S.s biggest manager of pharmacy lists -- struck its deal with AbbVie last month, Gilead made its own agreement for its drugs to be preferred by CVS Health Corp., the second-biggest.
maddie said
Jan 9, 2015
I believe it is true. Saw a few articles referring to this agreement.
There seems to be a lot of attention being paid to this piece of news right now! Let's hope this discount starts a bidding war on these protocols! I'm anxious to see some actual prices added to these reports. Shouldn't be long...
http://www.firstwordpharma.com/node/1256115?tsid=28®ion_id=4#axzz3OKnbfKJW
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-08/gilead-strikes-hepatitis-c-deal-with-anthem.html
Anthem uses the pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co. to run its lists of covered drugs, also known as formularies. That makes the insurers deal with Gilead particularly striking, since Express Scripts struck a separate exclusive agreement with AbbVie last month. In return for a discount on Viekira Pak, Express Scripts agreed to use AbbVies drug for many other plans that the pharmacy benefit manager runs.
This news is meaningful in that Anthem -- Express Scripts largest customer -- didnt follow Express Scripts in preferring AbbVies regimen, said Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst with Evercore-ISI.
Hefty price tags for hepatitis C drugs have drawn criticism from insurers and lawmakers. Gileads Sovaldi costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, and Harvoni, which combines Sovaldi with another medication, taken as a single pill, costs $94,500 for 12 weeks. Viekira Paks 12-week price is $83,319.
After Express Scripts -- the U.S.s biggest manager of pharmacy lists -- struck its deal with AbbVie last month, Gilead made its own agreement for its drugs to be preferred by CVS Health Corp., the second-biggest.
http://seekingalpha.com/news/2213455-gilead-inks-deal-with-anthem-for-harvoni
good news! Hope it's true.