Cigna Group's Express Scripts pharmacy benefits unit will add three biosimilar versions of AbbVie's blockbuster arthritis treatment Humira to its list of preferred drugs, the company said on Monday.
The biosimilars include Hyrimoz and an unbranded version of Humira from Swiss drugmaker Novartis' Sandoz generics division, as well as German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim's Cyltezo.
Sandoz had announced that its unbranded biosimilar, known chemically as adalimumab-adaz, would be priced at an 81% discount to Humira’s current list price of $6,922 per month, and Hyrimoz at a 5% discount.
Boehringer said it would launch Cyltezo at 5%-7% below the Humira list price.
Express Scripts said the biosimilars would be included as preferred brands on the its formulary or its drug reimbursement list. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) act as middlemen for employers and health plans. They negotiate rebates and fees with drug manufacturers, and create lists, or formularies, of medications that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for patients' prescriptions.
Express did not respond to requests for comment on whether patients would have the same access to Sandoz's lower-priced biosimilar as the much more expensive near copies of Humira on its formulary.
Robert Popovian, the chief science policy officer at patient advocacy group Global Healthy Living Foundation, said if Cigna puts Sandoz's unbranded version on a different tier to the other biosimilars, patients might have to pay higher out-of-pocket costs for the drug or meet some additional criteria.
The drugs, which became available this month, add to U.S. competition for Humira that began in January with the launch of Amgen's Amjevita, which is already on Express Scripts' reimbursement list.
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