Express Scripts Holding Company ESRX announced that it has entered into a partnership with Imprimis Pharmaceuticals IMMY to provide a low-cost formulation of Daraprim.
We note that Daraprim is approved for the treatment of toxoplasmosis. Earlier, Daraprim had been priced at $13.50 per pill. But with Turing Pharmaceuticals hiking the price to $750 per pill in September, the drug is currently unaffordable for most people with HIV, pregnant women and others with weakened immune systems.
Imprimis is offering a compounded oral formulation of pyrimethamine and leucovorin (a form of folic acid) at $1 per pill.
The companies expect prescriptions for the oral formulation of pyrimethamine and leucovorin from Imprimis to be processed by this week itself for Express Scripts’ patients who need the treatment.
We note that pricing of specialty drugs have come under fire in recent times. Valeant Pharmaceuticals VRX came under the spotlight for a massive price hike of two of its drugs – Isuprel and Nitropres. These drugs, acquired by the company earlier this year from Marathon Pharmaceuticals, are used by hospitals and other providers to treat serious heart conditions. Since the acquisition, the company has increased Isuprel and Nitropres’ prices by as much as 212% and 525%, respectively.
Express Scripts released data in Mar 2015 that showed how new expensive Hepatitis C (HCV) therapies, along with the exploitation of loopholes for compounded medications, fueled a phenomenal 13.1% surge in drug spending in the U.S. in 2014. Earlier, Express Scripts had chosen hepatitis C treatment Viekira Pak over Sovaldi in Dec 2014, leading to a pricing war between the two drugs.
Express Scripts believes that there is urgent need to tightly manage pharmacy benefit, implement smarter formularies, control compounded medication use and offer appropriate clinical support to ensure best possible treatments for patients at lower prices.
Separately, Express Scripts announced that it has renewed its long-standing pharmacy benefit agreement with Premera Blue Cross through at least 2019.
Express Scripts currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the health care sector is Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. CRL with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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