Dive Brief:
- Beginning today, Express Scripts will exclude Valeant's diabetes med Glumetza from its list of covered medicines, instead favoring a generic version which becomes available today. The pharmacy benefits manager is excluding roughly 80 drugs from its list of covered medicines for 2016.
- Valeant signed a deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance last year to sell its drugs directly to patients, making it possible for patients to pay generic prices for Glumetza and other Valeant drugs. However, with Express Scripts' decision, Glumetza won't be allowed to process even at pharmacies who have signed an agreement with Valeant.
- Pharmacy benefits managers typically exclude branded products when a generic drug comes into the market.
Dive Insight:
One of the best days for Valeant's stock last year—and it was a very hard year—was its announcement that it had signed a distribution agreement with Walgreens Boots Alliance.
When Valeant came under fire for the actions of its previous distributor Philidor, Express Scripts preemptively severed its relationship with Philidor and put additional pressure on Valeant. In a statement explaining its decision, Express Scripts said it "will always leverage market competition to lower drug costs and keep medicine within reach of the patients who need it."
Valeant has already anticipated the impact of Express Scripts dropping Glumetza and factored it into financial forecasts for 2016.