New FDA Specialty Approvals
✦ June 7: The FDA granted another indication to Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz) for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) in children at least 1 month old and ad...
Employers Have Variety of Approaches for High-Cost Drugs
As more high-cost drugs, including one-time gene therapies, come onto the market, employers are considering implementing a variety of contracting models to make sure their employees have access to these agents. Howe...
Prime Rolls Out New Medical Benefit Management Offering
As payers continue to look for ways to tackle the rising spending on specialty drugs, Prime Therapeutics LLC is launching a medical drug management program. Known as MedDrive, the offering will be rolled out in phas...
Offering Patients Money to Switch Drugs May Become PBM Tool
PBMs have used formulary exclusions as an effective way to negotiate with manufacturers for several years. However, at least one payer has gotten more aggressive with its tactics to get members to move from an exclu...
News Briefs
✦ The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition from Novartis AG’s Sandoz unit to review the 2020 Federal Circuit decision to uphold two patents of Amgen Inc.’s Enbrel (etanercept). The FDA approved Sandoz’s Enbr...
New FDA Specialty Approvals
✦ May 5: The FDA granted accelerated approval to Merck & Co., Inc.’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in combination with trastuzumab, fluoropyrimidine- and platinum-containing chemotherapy for the treatment of loca...
Most Payers Expect to Manage New MS Drug Ponvory to Label
Although there are more than 20 FDA-approved disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS), companies continue to bring new products to market. Zitter Insights found that the majority of payers expe...
Blues Plan Launches Value-Based Kidney Care Program
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota recently launched a new value-based agreement with VillageHealth focused on certain members with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or end-stage renal disease (ESRD). By working wit...
Magellan Rx Report: Medical Drug Spend Continues to Rise
From 2009 to 2019, commercial per-member per-month costs have almost doubled, from $17.28 to $32.73, an increase of 89%, according to the latest Medical Pharmacy Trend Report from Magellan Rx Management. The report ...
Prime: MS Spend Was Steady as Generics Helped Offset Costs
More than 20 multiple sclerosis (MS) disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) currently are available in the U.S. But even with all the competition, prices for most of the agents are around $80,000 per year. Following updated...