CVS enters PGx arena
WOONSOCKET, R.I. —CVS Caremark has partnered with Generation Health Inc. to expand pharmacogenomic, or PGx, testing to its PBM clients to predict how patients will respond to medications in such areas as oncology, cardiovascular medicine and HIV—a move that likely illustrates the next generation of community pharmacy.
CVS Caremark already provides PGx interventions services in its specialty pharmacy business, but this partnership expands upon those offerings to specialty pharmacy and introduces them for targeted drugs dispensed under the traditional PBM setting.
PGx clinical services are expected to be introduced to CVS Caremark’s PBM clients in second quarter 2010, and initially will focus on testing programs for medications in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular medicine and HIV, among others. In addition, the partnership opens the door for future programs to test for certain hereditary diseases.
CVS Caremark is making a minority equity investment in Generation Health, a privately owned company formed in 2008. Troyen Brennan, EVP and chief medical officer of CVS Caremark, has joined Generation Health’s board of directors. The move likely illustrates the next generation of community pharmacy, as trailblazer CVS Caremark continues to move well beyond a traditional retail pharmacy role and into a pharmacy healthcare service company aimed at improving health outcomes and lowering healthcare costs.
According to Generation Health, which works on behalf of payers to optimize the utilization of genetic testing, genomic testing represents a $3 billion market that is growing 45% annually. There are at least 100 new tests added each year, and they usually are priced at several hundred dollars each.
Even regional player Kerr Drug is tapping into the burgeoning PGx market. In Kerr’s newest Community Healthcare Center store in Chapel Hill, N.C., it is piloting a new PGx program in partnership with the University of North Carolina’s Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The program initially is targeting Plavix patients. The idea is that a $250 cheek swab performed in the local community pharmacy potentially could save $50,000 in upstream costs related to a medication not having its desired effect (see relatedstory, page 1).
Until recently, medications have been developed with the idea that each drug works basically the same way for everyone. However, genome research has thrown the cookie-cutter approach out the window and has opened the door for personalized medicine. Combining the science of how drugs work, or pharmacology, with the science of the human genome, or genomics, pharmacogenomics uses information about a person’s genetic makeup to select the drugs and drug doses that are likely to work best for that particular person.
Not only can PGx help reduce overall medical costs for clients by determining which treatments will be most effective for a particular patient, but it also helps avoid potential health hazards. Medical studies have found that in some cases, patients get little benefit or even face harmful and costly side effects from medications they take.
“The emerging field of genomics is complex and challenging for healthcare payers and providers alike, yet critically important to how medicine is practiced today, ” stated Per Lofberg, CEO and co-founder of Generation Health, who previously served as one of the creators and leaders of Medco Health Solutions. “Our focus on genomic medicine allows for a holistic approach that includes managing the process for determining hereditary risk for certain diseases, as well as for managing pharmacogenomic services. We intend to impact physician practice and patient well-being with accessible, affordable and actionable information.”