CVS Health comments on Gilead hepatitis drug deal

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health has confirmed that after a thorough evaluation of the existing and new hepatitis C therapies that are now available in the marketplace, Gilead Sciences’ Harvoni and Sovaldi drugs will be exclusive to CVS Health’s Standard Commercial, Exchange (Marketplace), Medicare Part D and Medicaid formularies, effective Jan. 7.



“Our goal was to create the lowest net-cost solution for the entire population of patients with all genotypes of hepatitis C. When making this decision, we evaluated a wide variety of factors including duration of therapy, relative distribution of genotype and cost of the individual agents in the category as well as the results of a comprehensive clinical review of the different hepatitis C regimens,” said CVS Health spokesperson Christine K. Cramer in a statement sent to Drug Store News. “We believe this strategy meets patient needs while delivering excellent value and clinical options to both clients and plan members.”



As noted in a New York Times article, the move partially offsets Express Scripts’ announcement in late December that AbbVie Viekira Pak will be the exclusive option for Genotype 1 hepatitis C patients covered by the Express Scripts National Preferred Formulary, and that, beginning Jan. 1, Sovaldi, Harvoni and Olysio (simeprevir) will be excluded from the National Preferred Formulary.