For the past three months, CVS Caremark has resisted adding a new Gilead Sciences HIV prevention drug to its formularies, repeatedly explaining there are “clinical, financial, and regulatory considerations” that must be reviewed before it will take that step.
Not surprisingly, though, what the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S. simply wants is a much lower price, according to an email that was sent this week by a company executive to an AIDS patient advocacy group and that sheds unusually direct light on the perspectives of a PBM.
At issue is Yeztugo, a groundbreaking medicine that was approved last June by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Clinical trials showed the twice-a-year injectable was highly effective in preventing the infectious disease, prompting enthusiasm about combating HIV globally. But the $28,000 price tag in the U.S. has raised concern about affordability.
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