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Gilead fights back: CVS to cover its hepatitis C drugs exclusively
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/102310444
Gilead Sciences' hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, will get exclusive coverage on several plans from CVS/Caremark, the pharmacy benefits manager said Monday, taking the opposite stance from competitor Express Scripts.
Gilead shares spiked on the news Monday, driving up the entire biotech sector. Last month, shares of Gilead swooned after Express Scripts said it would exclusively offer competitor AbbVie's newly approved hepatitis C therapy on its largest plan.
"CVS/Caremark has completed a thorough evaluation of the existing and new hepatitis C therapies that are now available in the marketplace," Chris Cramer, a spokeswoman for CVS Health, said in an email statement. The news was first reported by Dow Jones. "As a result of that evaluation, effective January 7, 2015, Harvoni and Sovaldi-manufactured by Gilead Sciences Inc.-will be exclusive on the CVS/Caremark Standard Commercial, Exchange (Marketplace), Medicare Part D and Medicaid formularies. "
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CVS Gives Preferred Status to Gilead Hepatitis C Drugs Harvoni, Sovaldi
Will Require Medical Exception or Prior Authorization for AbbVie's Viekira Pak
Wall St Jnl Jan 5 2014
http://www.wsj.com/articles/cvs-gives-preferred-status-to-gilead-hepatitis-c-drugs-1420478490?KEYWORDS=gilead
CVS Health Corp. on Monday said it would make Gilead Sciences Inc. 's hepatitis C pills the exclusive treatment option for beneficiaries on its Medicare, Medicaid and other drug benefit plans.
A competing drug made by AbbVie Inc. will be available to patients only if they receive a medical exception or prior authorization, according to a letter sent by CVS and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Gilead shares rose 2.7% to $97.43 in midday trading.
In December, Express Scripts Holding Co. said it had agreed to give AbbVie's new hepatitis C pill, called Viekira Pak, preferred formulary status in exchange for a significant discount from AbbVie. That deal caused shares of Gilead to plummet, as investors worried AbbVie would use price discounting to gain a larger share of the hepatitis C drug market than anticipated.
CVS said Gilead's Harvoni and Sovaldi will be the preferred treatments on four CVS formularies, including its standard commercial formulary, and exchange marketplace formularies. The policy will go into effect Wednesday and won't necessarily apply to clients that choose their own custom formularies, the letter said.
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Bloomberg
Gilead Makes Exclusive Deal With CVS for Hepatitis C Medicine
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-05/gilead-makes-exclusive-deal-with-cvs-for-hepatitis-c-medicine.html
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) was chosen over AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) as the main provider of hepatitis C medicine for patients covered through CVS Health Corp., intensifying a rivalry to treat patients with pills that cost $1,000 or more a day.
Gilead's Harvoni and Sovaldi will be the exclusive drugs for CVS's standard commercial list of covered medicine, as well as its list for health-care exchanges, Medicare Part D and Medicaid, the benefits manager said today in an e-mail.
"Our goal was to create the lowest net-cost solution for the entire population of patients with all genotypes of hepatitis C," CVS said. The company didn't say whether it negotiated a special price for Gilead's drugs.
The win at CVS helps Gilead recover from a loss to AbbVie at Express Scripts Holding Co., the biggest U.S. drug-benefits manager, which chose last month to favor Viekira Pak in many cases. AbbVie offered an unspecified discount to garner support from Express Scripts, to the dismay of biotech investors who have bet on the industry's ability to maintain high prices.
Gilead jumped 2.3 percent to $97.13 at 12:19 p.m. in New York. AbbVie slid 2 percent to $64.55. Press officials at Gilead and AbbVie didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Dow Jones Newswires reported on the CVS decision earlier today.
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