Trends That Matter Archives

Trends That Matter

Trends That Matter for Kansas Medicaid Expansion

February 13, 2020

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning on Jan. 9 said they’d reached a compromise proposal to extend Medicaid coverage to an estimated 130,000 more low-income Kansans, AIS Health reported.

If approved, Kansas will pursue a full expansion of Medicaid to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) with a 90/10 funding match. The state will also seek Section 1332 waiver approval to establish a reinsurance program and Section 1115 waiver approval to transition individuals whose incomes fall between 100% and 138% of the FPL from Medicaid to the exchange no later than Jan. 1, 2022, although expansion is not dependent on those waivers. If CMS denies either waiver, full Medicaid expansion will be implemented on Jan. 1, 2021, according to a summary of the pending legislation.

Kansas would be the 37th state to expand Medicaid. Ballot initiatives are pending in Missouri and Oklahoma, while voters in Nebraska and Utah have already approved expansion. The 10 remaining non-expansion states are largely concentrated in the South.
A new study in Health Affairs found that Medicaid expansion improved health outcomes in southern U.S. states, causing fewer self-reported declines in health status among low-income residents.

Trends That Matter for New Sickle Cell Medications

January 30, 2020

The first targeted therapy to treat pain crises in people with sickle cell disease presents a “welcome” new option that payers likely will embrace, a PBM head tells AIS Health. While the drug’s manufacturer cites “positive” early discussions with payers on it, some experts note the lifetime treatment — via a monthly intravenous infusion — is costly: around $100,000 annually.

On Nov. 15, the FDA approved Novartis’ Adakveo (crizanlizumab-tmca), a treatment to fight the underlying cause and reduce the frequency of vaso-occlusive crisis, described as a common and painful complication of sickle cell disease. It is approved for patients ages 16 and older with the genetic blood disorder.

Hydroxyurea, a drug approved by the FDA in 1998, is now generic, costs about $1,000 a year, and is approved for children, the New York Times reported on Dec. 7. The two newcomers are Adakveo and Global Blood Therapeutics’ Oxbryta (voxelotor), a daily pill granted accelerated approval by the FDA 10 days after Adakveo’s approval. This led one expert to tell the news outlet that insurers likely will want to begin with hydroxyurea as the front-line therapy.

Yet Mesfin Tegenu, R.Ph., president of PerformRx, LLC, says that “options for patients with sickle cell disease have been very limited up to this point, so the approval of Adakveo is a welcome addition in the treatment of this debilitating disease.”

The graphics below show how sickle cell disease medications are covered among commercial health plans, health exchange programs and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and their utilization management restrictions.

Trends That Matter for New Multiple Sclerosis Value-Based Contract

January 16, 2020

Under a value-based contracting agreement believed to be the first of its kind, UPMC Health Plan will receive discounts for two Biogen Inc. multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs — Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) and Avonex (interferon beta-1a) — based on patient-reported measures of disability progression. The agreement is also based on research with a panel of key MS stakeholders who identified the most meaningful outcomes in relapsing forms of MS, AIS Health reported.

UPMC’s Center for Value-Based Pharmacy Initiatives led the research and developed the value-based contract.

Previous value-based contracts for MS drugs have connected payment to outcome indicators derived from claims and electronic health record data, says Rochelle Henderson, Ph.D., Express Scripts’ vice president of research and a co-author of the study report.

“This research [gives] a greater level of transparency into the outcome indicators that rank the highest in terms of value for stakeholders,” she says. “The key advantage of patient-reported outcomes is that it gets at information that can be used to evaluate the success of a medication where that information is not available by traditional means.”

The graphic below shows the current market access to Tecfidera and Avonex for all controllers under the pharmacy benefit.

Trends That Matter for New Acute Migraine Medications

January 2, 2020

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.

Trends That Matter for Anti-VEGF Market

December 19, 2019

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.

Trends That Matter for New Cystic Fibrosis Medication

December 5, 2019

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.