News Briefs
✦ Highmark Inc. said on Sept. 21 that it entered into an outcomes-based payment agreement with AstraZeneca PLC for Fasenra (benralizumab), which is an add-on treatment for patients age 12 and older with severe asthma. The agreement will hold AstraZeneca accountable for the clinical effectiveness of Fasenra when used by Highmark’s commercial and Medicare members. Previously, the insurer and drugmaker collaborated on an outcomes-based agreement for the asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug Symbicort (budesonide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate), “one of the first outcomes-based agreements in the U.S. for the treatment of those chronic respiratory conditions.” Read more at https://bit.ly/2ROxyCA.
✦ Cigna Corp. on Sept. 16 said that it is rebranding its health services portfolio — which includes its PBM and specialty pharmacy businesses — as Evernorth. Tim Wentworth, who was the CEO of Express Scripts before Cigna acquired it, will be the CEO of the rebranded division. Cigna also unveiled new products that Evernorth will offer, including a “comprehensive fertility solution” called FamilyPath and Healthy Ways to Work, a suite of solutions that aims to help health plans and employees address challenges tied to COVID-19. Read more at https://bit.ly/3ks2vZD.
