Express Scripts drops coverage of Valeant diabetes drug Glumetza

NEW YORK, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Express Scripts Holding Co
ESRX.O , the U.S. No. 1 pharmacy benefits manager, said on
Friday it would stop covering Glumetza, a diabetes drug made by
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (N:VRX) VRX.N , after a
generic competitor enters the market on Feb. 1.
Express Scripts, which will exclude about 80 drugs from its
list of covered medicines in 2016, made the addition in an
announcement on its website.
Valeant signed a deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance (O:WBA) Inc
WBA.N late last year to sell its drugs directly to patients.
Under the agreement, patients would pay generic prices for
Valeant drugs, including Glumetza.
Express Scripts said that move encouraged pharmacies to
bypass more affordable drugs containing metformin, the generic
medicine most commonly used to treat diabetes, at a higher cost
to payers such as employers who sponsor healthcare plans.
Pharmacy benefit managers typically exclude branded products
when a generic competitor hits the market, Valeant spokeswoman
Laurie Little said in a statement. "Drug prices are set in a
very dynamic marketplace, and this development is another
example of how the market works to influence price," she said.
Valeant has already factored a generic competitor into its
Glumetza sales forecast, she said.
Valeant has been under fire for raising prices on its
medicines. Last year it had a tight working relationship with a
pharmacy called Philidor RX Services for sales of mostly
dermatology drugs, but after the pharmacy was criticized for
aggressive billing of pharmacy benefit managers and insurers,
Valeant cut ties and the pharmacy closed.
Express Scripts had already moved to shut Philidor out of
its network of pharmacies when that occurred.
The agreement with Walgreens offers discounts and coupons to
patients who filled certain Valeant prescriptions.