Highlights
- Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec) is approved as a gene therapy to treat hemophilia B, carries a $3.5 million list price.
- Prime Therapeutics finalizes acquisition of Magellan Rx Management
- Express Scripts and Optum disclose formulary strategy for Humira biosimilar launches
- Drug Channels discusses gross-to-net bubble in annual drug pricing update
FDA Approvals and Launches
- Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec) is approved as a gene therapy to treat hemophilia B, carries a $3.5 million list price.
- Rezvoglar (insulin glargine-aglr) is approved as the second interchangeable biosimilar to long-acting insulin Lantus.
- Leqembi (lecanemab) is approved to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
- Sunlenca (lenacapavir), administered as an injection once every 6 months, is approved to treat HIV.
- Briumvi (ublituximab-xiiy) is approved to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.
News
Prime Therapeutics finalizes acquisition of Magellan Rx Management
- Magellan currently serves 1.7 million members and will continue to operate independently in the near future.
Express Scripts and Optum disclose formulary strategy for Humira biosimilar launches
- Express Scripts will add an unspecified number of Humira biosimilars to its national formularies as co-preferred products.
- Optum will also retain Humira as a preferred product and plans to add up to three biosimilars as co-preferred products.
- CVS has not publicly disclosed their formulary strategy for these products.
IQVIA publishes “Lessons from Semglee: Early Perspectives on Pharmacy Biosimilars”
- The report discusses the delayed adoption of the insulin biosimilar and provides insight on the upcoming launches of Humira biosimilars.
Regence health plans champion biosimilar adoption, claims $37 million in annual savings
- Regence, a parent company of four Blues affiliates, reports a 95% biosimilar adoption rate.
- An increase in adoption was encouraged through a comprehensive strategy that included communication campaigns to members and providers, as well as the removal of prior authorization requirements.
Drug Channels discusses gross-to-net bubble in annual drug pricing update
- The report claims that prices for drugs have decreased for the fifth consecutive year after accounting for rebates and inflation.
- The gross-to-net bubble, which describes the difference between drug list prices and net prices, continues to increase.
Manufacturers introduce annual list price hikes
- Products with price increases include shingles vaccine Shingrix, auto-immune drug Xeljanz, and cancer drugs Ibrance and Xalkori.
- A Pfizer spokesperson claims that the average price increases are well below the inflation rate and that, after accounting for rebates, net prices have fallen over the past four years.
Optum publishes “New regulations to watch: Winter 2022”
- The PBM predicts that Medicare-related provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act may indirectly impact commercial clients by causing higher launch prices for new drugs.
- A California “gold card” bill allowing health care providers to bypass prior authorization requirements was defeated in the state legislature.
Magellan publishes 2022 Medical Pharmacy Trend Report
- The report examined utilization of provider-administered drugs, including drugs commonly used to treat cancer, autoimmune disorders and immunodeficiencies.
- The top commercial drug spend drivers in 2021 were oncology drugs Darzalex Faspro and Keytruda, as well as eye disease drug Tepezza.
Evernorth adds Skysona to Embarc Benefit Protection program
- The program, which requires a per-member-per-month enrollment fee, is intended to help protect plans from expensive gene therapy claims and currently covers Luxturna, Zolgensma, Zynteglo, and Skysona.
FDA removes in-person dispensing requirement for abortion drug mifepristone
- Certified retail and mail-order pharmacies will now be able to dispense the drug.