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Radar On Market Access: AML Therapy Class Has Seen Boom Over Past Couple of Years

September 19, 2019

The FDA has approved nearly 10 therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) over the past couple of years. Because most of them target a specific biomarker, it’s critical that people diagnosed with the condition undergo genetic testing to determine whether they fall into a particular patient subgroup, AIS Health reported.

The FDA has approved nearly 10 therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) over the past couple of years. Because most of them target a specific biomarker, it’s critical that people diagnosed with the condition undergo genetic testing to determine whether they fall into a particular patient subgroup, AIS Health reported.

“Prior to two years ago, we had no new drugs for over a decade, and now we have eight new drugs approved in just the last two years, so the whole field has changed,” said Daniel J. DeAngelo, M.D., Ph.D., chief, division of leukemia, institute physician, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, in an interview published on the website obroncology.com.

Many of the newer drugs are oral formulations, which, “in general, are easier to administer,” points out Mesfin Tegenu, R.Ph., president of PerformRx, LLC. “Rather than having to go into a hospital or clinic for treatment, a patient can simply take a medication orally for their condition.”

Payers utilize a variety of management tactics with AML therapies. “Payers often require prior authorization of these therapies due to safety, concern for off-label usage and cost,” says Tegenu. A variety of drugs are used off-label for certain patient populations, he notes.

Asked if AML is a condition suited for value-based contracting, Tegenu asserts that “all therapies associated with high cost should have some kind of value-based payment models to make drug manufacturers an integral part of the health care delivery system. We plan to initiate this discussion with all leading pharmaceutical companies.”

According to Winston Wong, Pharm.D., president of W-Squared Group., the newer drugs would be better candidates for such deals due to AML’s heterogenicity and the fact that “the treatment foundation is still conventional chemotherapy, which for the most part is available as a generic.”

Radar On Market Access: New Solutions to Finance High-Cost Treatments May Raise New Questions

September 17, 2019

With concerns mounting about how health plan sponsors will pay for breakthrough treatments with ultra-high price tags, some major insurers are offering up new solutions aimed at easing that burden, AIS Health reported.

With concerns mounting about how health plan sponsors will pay for breakthrough treatments with ultra-high price tags, some major insurers are offering up new solutions aimed at easing that burden, AIS Health reported.

Cigna Corp. “appears at the forefront” of initiatives to cope with super-high-cost drugs, as Citi analyst Ralph Giacobbe puts it, given that the firm recently introduced a new solution that would help clients pay for and manage two gene therapies: Luxturna and Zolgensma.

Members whose plan sponsors pay a per-member per-month fee for Cigna’s new solution — called Embarc Benefit Protection — will pay nothing out of pocket for Zolgensma or Luxturna if they meet the clinical qualifications to be treated with one of those therapies.

“Employers are looking for solutions like that from their health plan partners and the PBMs,” says Steve Wojcik, vice president of public policy for the National Business Group on Health. However, while offerings like Cigna’s could help employers “smooth out the spikes in expenses,” businesses remain concerned about the overall costs of breakthrough therapies in the pipeline, he notes.

Besides Cigna, other major names in the insurance sector, such as CVS Health Corp.’s Aetna and Anthem, Inc., are working on their own solutions to help cope with high-cost therapies, including annuity-style payment arrangements and value-based contracts.

David Dross, managed pharmacy practice leader at the consulting firm Mercer, says some large, self-insured employers that are concerned about ultra-costly treatments are rethinking their decision to forgo stop-loss coverage.

However, issues can arise if clinical and financial management of a high-cost drug are done separately, he adds. In other words, a plan sponsor may determine that a member qualifies for a high-cost drug, but the stop-loss carrier that’s taking on the financial responsibility may not agree.

MMIT Reality Check on Schizophrenia (Sep 2019)

September 13, 2019

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for schizophrenia treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

According to our recent payer coverage analysis for schizophrenia treatments, combined with news from key healthcare influencers, market access is shifting in this drug landscape.

To help make sense of this new research, MMIT’s team of experts analyzes the data and summarizes the key findings for you. The following are brief highlights. To read the full piece, including payer coverage, drug competition and prescriber trends, click here.

Payer Coverage: A review of market access for schizophrenia treatments shows that under the pharmacy benefit, about 39% of the lives under commercial formularies are covered without utilization management restrictions.

Trends: There is a shift towards more integration of Medicaid benefits into managed care contracts, as well as a slight decline in the use of carve-out financing.

Trends That Matter for RM/AT Products

September 12, 2019

This past quarter saw two new gene therapies: Novartis AG subsidiary AveXis, Inc.’s Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) received FDA approval May 24 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, and bluebird bio’s Zynteglo (autologous CD34+ cells encoding βA-T87Q- globin gene) received conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission for transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

This past quarter saw two new gene therapies: Novartis AG subsidiary AveXis, Inc.’s Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) received FDA approval May 24 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, and bluebird bio’s Zynteglo (autologous CD34+ cells encoding βA-T87Q- globin gene) received conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission for transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia.

While only a handful of therapies in the broader regenerative medicine/advanced therapy (RM/AT) space are available globally, a new report shows that is likely to change, as there are more than 1,000 products in the pipeline, AIS Health reported.

The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine published the report, titled Quarterly Global Regenerative Medicine Sector Report: Q2 2019, on Aug. 1. It shows there are 1,069 clinical trials using specific RM/AT technologies, which include gene therapy, gene-modified cell therapy, cell therapy and tissue engineering. Ninety-four of those products are in Phase III trials.

Radar On Market Access: Novartis’ Zolgensma Crisis May Not Impact Pickup

September 12, 2019

The FDA in August put out a statement addressing “data accuracy issues” with Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), a new gene therapy to treat spinal muscular atrophy in people less than two years old who have bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 gene, AIS Health reported.

The FDA in August put out a statement addressing “data accuracy issues” with Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi), a new gene therapy to treat spinal muscular atrophy in people less than two years old who have bi-allelic mutations in the survival motor neuron 1 gene, AIS Health reported.

The FDA approved the drug from AveXis, Inc., which was acquired by Novartis AG last year, on May 24. On June 28, AveXis notified the FDA that there was “a data manipulation issue that impacts the accuracy of certain data from product testing performed in animals submitted in the biologics license application (BLA) and reviewed by the FDA.”

The FDA said Novartis learned about the issue March 14, but rather than informing the agency, which was assessing Zolgensma’s BLA at the time, the company conducted its own internal investigation, reporting its findings to the FDA after the investigation was completed. Still, the agency said that it “remains confident that Zolgensma should remain on the market.”

The one-time therapy is the most expensive drug in the world, with a price tag of $2.1 million.

In response, Novartis issued a press release Aug. 6 that read, in part, “we maintain that the totality of the evidence demonstrating the product’s effectiveness and its safety profile continue to provide compelling evidence supporting an overall favorable benefit-risk profile.”

Novartis recently said that Zolgensma has coverage plans from payers representing 40% of commercial lives, and high-profile news reports name Aetna Inc. and Anthem, Inc. among insurers expanding their policies to cover more patients. So will the current situation have any impact on pickup among payers and providers?

Based on the FDA’s statement, “I expect there will be no more than a minor and temporary blip in pickup of Zolgensma among providers and payers,” says Elan Rubinstein, Pharm.D., principal at EB Rubinstein Associates.