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The FDA last week approved Rigel Pharmaceuticals’ Rezlidhia for the treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with the IDH1 mutation in adult patients. The drugmaker in August paid just $2 million to Forma Therapeutics for Rezlidhia’s exclusive licensing rights. The approval means Rezlidhia will go head-to-head with Servier’s Tibsovo, which scored a nod for IDH1-mutated AML in May. For the treatment of AML, Tibsovo currently holds covered or better status for 96% of all insured lives under the pharmacy benefit. About 29% of insured lives have preferred access to Tibsovo, largely with utilization management restrictions applied.

UnitedHealth Group at its annual Investor Day projected Medicare Advantage membership growth of 9% next year, overall revenues in the range of $357 billion to $360 billion and earnings per share between $24.40 and $24.90. UnitedHealthcare is currently the largest Medicare Advantage insurer in the U.S., with 8,270,531 MA and dual eligible members as of November 2022. The company estimated its ranks will grow by another 600,000 to 650,000 next year.

EmblemHealth’s ConnectiCare will exit the small group insurance market for the 2023 plan year, according to a Nov. 29 report in the Hartford Business Journal. It’s the second insurer to pull out of Connecticut’s small group market in recent weeks, joining Point32Health. EmblemHealth currently enrolls 22,723 members in Connecticut’s small group market, with a vast majority of those members served by a ConnectiCare plan. Yale University Health Plan is the state’s small group market leader, with 44,000 members.

Bristol Myers Squibb is once again asking the United States Supreme Court to rehear its CAR-T patent dispute against Gilead Sciences. The high court already declined to hear the case, which asks for the reinstatement of a $1.2 billion award to BMS, earlier this month, but the drugmaker is asking again in light of Amgen’s revived Repatha patent case. BMS and Gilead’s CAR-T therapies, Breyanzi and Yescarta, are currently approved to treat certain forms of lymphoma. Breyanzi holds covered or better status for 31% of all insured lives under the pharmacy benefit, and 83% under the medical benefit, compared to Yescarta’s coverage rates of 29% and 86%.

Startup insurer Angle Health said it will expand its digital-first plan offerings to six new states — Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, and South Carolina — for the 2023 plan year. The San Francisco-based company calls itself a “full-stack healthcare benefits provider,” with technology-focused solutions that seek to streamline plan administration for employer groups and offer enhanced benefits to members, such as integrated telemedicine and behavioral health. Angle first launched in Utah in 2022, where it currently enrolls 3,483 members in its group risk-based plans.

The FDA on Nov. 16 granted Eli Lilly’s Rezvoglar, a biosimilar to Sanofi’s insulin Lantus, interchangeability with its reference product. This approval marks the second interchangeable copy of Lantus — Viatris and Biocon Biologics’ Semglee hit the market in November 2021. For the treatment of type 2 diabetes, Semglee currently holds covered or better status for 60% of all insured lives, to Lantus’ 71%.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. last week said the FDA has an updated a decision date for its closely watched eye drug pegcetacoplan: Feb. 26, 2023. A decision for the drug’s use in geographic atrophy, an advanced form of macular degeneration, was originally expected by the end of this month, but Apellis chose to submit expanded efficacy data to the agency, postponing the decision and giving some investors pause. There is currently no FDA-approved treatment for geographic atrophy on the market, which could make the C3 complement inhibitor a blockbuster. Pegcetacoplan has previously been approved for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare blood disease, under the brand name Empaveli. Empaveli currently holds covered or better status for 70% of all insured lives under the pharmacy benefit, and 47% under the medical benefit.

Regence, the parent company of four Blues affiliates in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington, last week said it has reduced specialty drug spend by $37 million after transitioning to the use of biosimilars. The company said it currently has a 95% adoption rate of biosimilars among its health plan members, and it expects costs to further decrease as more biosimilars become available in 2023. Regence’s four MCOs currently enroll 2,012,243 people in primary medical coverage, with 39.0% enrolled in risk-based commercial plans, and 54.4% in non-risk ASO plans.

Sanford Health and Minneapolis-based health system Fairview Health Services this week announced their intent to combine organizations. Sanford would serve as the combined system’s parent company. But the deal could come under fire from regulators, according to a Nov. 15 article in the Star Tribune. The two systems first plotted a merger in 2013, which was struck down by Minnesota’s attorney general. Sanford has also attempted to merge with Intermountain Healthcare and UnityPoint Health in recent years. The combined system would operate more than 50 hospitals, and incorporate Sanford’s health insurance unit, Sanford Health Group. The payer currently enrolls 202,323 members throughout the upper Midwest.

Pomona, Calif.-based Inter Valley Health Plan will cease to operate at the end of 2022, according to a nonrenewal notice addressed to its members. The Medicare Advantage insurer cited declining enrollment in a highly competitive market, writing, “we would not be able to continue to provide the high-level of benefits and service that you, our members, deserve,” in its notice. Inter Valley currently enrolls 15,156 MA members in California.