New oral medications for acute migraine — one pending launch and two more that could be approved in the coming months — likely won’t shake up formulary coverage for a condition that’s largely treated by generic triptan medications, pharmacy benefit experts tell AIS Health.

New oral medications for acute migraine — one pending launch and two more that could be approved in the coming months — likely won’t shake up formulary coverage for a condition that’s largely treated by generic triptan medications, pharmacy benefit experts tell AIS Health.

Eli Lilly and Co. on Oct. 11 received FDA approval for its drug Reyvow (lasmiditan), an oral medication that’s the first serotonin (5-HT)1F receptor agonist to be approved for migraine. Meanwhile, Allergan on Nov. 19 said it’s on track for December FDA consideration of ubrogepant, an oral CGRP receptor antagonist for acute migraine. Biohaven Pharmaceuticals also has applied for FDA approval on its oral CGRP antagonist rimegepant.

Mesfin Tegenu, R.Ph., president of PerformRx, doesn’t expect widespread uptake of Reyvow. “The launch of lasmiditan will likely not change the formulary status quo when it hits the market, as it most likely will become a niche medication for patients inadequately controlled on triptans, or for those who cannot take triptans,” Tegenu tells AIS Health. “This is primarily due to warnings on the label for driving impairment and central nervous system depression.”

The graphics below show the current market access to acute migraine medications for all payers under the pharmacy benefit.

In October 2019, the FDA approved Beovu (brolucizumab-dbll) from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The intravitreal injection will compete in a fairly crowded anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) market that is led by Eylea (aflibercept) from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AIS Health reported.

In October 2019, the FDA approved Beovu (brolucizumab-dbll) from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. for the treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The intravitreal injection will compete in a fairly crowded anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) market that is led by Eylea (aflibercept) from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., AIS Health reported.

Novartis priced Beovu at $1,850 per vial — the same per-dose price as Eylea. Following three initial monthly doses, Beovu can be administered every eight to 12 weeks. Eylea also has three initial monthly doses and then may be administered every four, eight or 12 weeks..

For the Managed Care Biologics and Injectables Index: Q4 2018, Zitter surveyed pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T) committee members who work for 51 commercial payers with 139.8 million covered lives between Nov. 30, 2018, and Jan. 7, 2019. When asked about how they would manage Beovu and Eylea, 49% said they were more likely than unlikely or significantly likely to manage the two drugs at parity.

Thirty-five percent said they were more likely than unlikely or significantly likely to start discussions with Regeneron to prefer Eylea over Beovu. Sixteen percent said it was likely or significantly likely that they would prefer Beovu over other anti-VEGF agents besides Eylea.

The graphic below shows the current market access to age-related macular degeneration medications for all payers under the pharmacy benefit.

The FDA recently approved a drug therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) that is being viewed as a “game-changer” for the roughly nine in 10 patients with the rare, progressive disease who might benefit from it. Where does this leave payers facing rising specialty drug costs across the board? Industry experts predict that most payers likely will cover this latest cystic fibrosis treatment option despite an annual price tag topping $300,000, AIS Health reported.

The FDA recently approved a drug therapy for cystic fibrosis (CF) that is being viewed as a “game-changer” for the roughly nine in 10 patients with the rare, progressive disease who might benefit from it. Where does this leave payers facing rising specialty drug costs across the board? Industry experts predict that most payers likely will cover this latest cystic fibrosis treatment option despite an annual price tag topping $300,000, AIS Health reported.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor), taken as a twice-daily pill regimen, is the first triple combination therapy available to treat patients with the most common cystic fibrosis mutation. The drug directly addresses the underlying cause of the illness — mutations in the CFTR protein.

The FDA approved Trikafta for patients 12 years and older with at least one F508del mutation in the CFTR gene, which is estimated to represent 90% of the cystic fibrosis population — many of whom have had no approved therapeutic options previously.

“From a utilization management standpoint, there is nothing in the marketplace that will be more effective or significantly less costly” than Trikafta, says Yusuf Rashid, R.Ph., vice president of pharmacy and vendor relationship management at Community Health Plan of Washington.

Manu Jain, M.D., professor of medicine and pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and director of Northwestern’s adult CF program, expects the payer community generally will approve Trikafta. But coverage “definitely will be uneven,” he says.

The graphics below show the current market access to CF medications for all payers under the pharmacy benefit.

According to CMS’s recent release of the 2020 star quality ratings, many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries continue to enroll in plans with 4 or more stars. There was also a notable shift of membership into highly rated Prescription Drug Plans, some of which made meaningful improvements on an individual basis even though PDP performance on average was stagnant, AIS Health reported.

According to CMS’s recent release of the 2020 star quality ratings, many Medicare Advantage beneficiaries continue to enroll in plans with 4 or more stars. There was also a notable shift of membership into highly rated Prescription Drug Plans, some of which made meaningful improvements on an individual basis even though PDP performance on average was stagnant, AIS Health reported.

More than half of Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans (210 contracts) that will be offered in 2020 earned overall star ratings of 4 or higher, compared with 46% of MA-PDs (172 contracts) offered in 2019, CMS reported on Oct. 11. Weighted by enrollment, approximately 81% of MA-PD enrollees are currently in contracts that will have 4 or more stars in 2020, up from about 75% in 2019.

Given that there were no substantial changes to the star measures in terms of weights or calculations this year, MA-PDs’ performance on average is “good evidence that the industry did a great job teaching to the test,” observes Melissa Smith, senior vice president of strategy and stars with Gorman Health Group.

Meanwhile, the percentage of enrollees in a PDP rated 4 or higher increased from a meager 3.5% in 2019 to approximately 28% for 2020 based on current enrollment, and the average star rating for PDPs rose from 3.34 in 2019 to 3.5 in 2020.

For many years, the psoriasis treatment landscape was dominated by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors. But with the FDA’s approval of three interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitors — as well as other drugs with different mechanisms of action — for the condition, those therapies are becoming more common among treatment regimens, AIS Health reported.

For many years, the psoriasis treatment landscape was dominated by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors. But with the FDA’s approval of three interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitors — as well as other drugs with different mechanisms of action — for the condition, those therapies are becoming more common among treatment regimens, AIS Health reported.

The first IL-17 inhibitor on the U.S. market was Cosentyx (secukinumab) from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., which launched in 2015. The next therapy was Taltz (ixekizumab) from Eli Lilly and Co., and then on Feb. 15, 2017, the agency approved Siliq (brodalumab) from Ortho Dermatologics.

An AllianceRx Walgreens Prime study sampled 5,215 members who started on an IL-17 from January 2016 through December 2017. The study showed that 2,218, or 42.5%, switched from a prior biologic, while 2,997, or 57.5%, started on an IL-17 as their first psoriasis biologic. Among those who started their biologic regimens on an IL-17 inhibitor, 2,266 started on Cosentyx, followed by 725 who initiated on Taltz and six who started on Siliq.

According to Renee Baiano, Pharm.D., clinical program manager at AllianceRx Walgreens Prime and the lead author of the poster, the main takeaway for payers is that “by [the] last quarter of 2017, IL-17 inhibitors may have gained clinical acceptance in the treatment of psoriasis, given the increase in patients prescribed as their first biologic.” She adds that “it is important for payers to be aware they may see more of their members being prescribed IL-17 inhibitors and will need to determine the appropriate placement of these newer agents within their formulary.”

The graphics below show the current market access to IL-17 inhibitors for all payers under the pharmacy benefit.