May 28 (Reuters) – CVS Health will add Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound back to some of its drug lists as an additional preferred option and also begin coverage for the drugmaker’s newly approved obesity pill, Foundayo.
CVS’ Caremark, one of the largest pharmacy benefit management units, had dropped Zepbound from coverage on July 1 last year, while continuing to reimburse for rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy after negotiating a more favorable price from the Danish drugmaker.
Zepbound will return to CVS Caremark’s commercial formularies, or lists of covered medications, on October 1, CVS said on Thursday. The move is aimed at giving employers and health plans access to GLP-1 weight-loss treatments at a more affordable cost.
The company also said that CVS Caremark’s standard commercial formulary template will include Lilly’s obesity pill Foundayo as a co-preferred weight-loss drug starting Monday.
Not all of CVS’ employer clients choose to provide coverage for any GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, a spokesperson said.
“What this change means is that, for those clients that do (choose to provide coverage), they will have equal access to both the Novo and Lilly products, and consumers will have the same copays for each.”
For eligible patients with commercial coverage, both Zepbound and Foundayo are available for as little as $25 a month, Lilly said. The drugmaker’s shares rose nearly 1% in premarket trading.
Increasing popularity and high prices of GLP-1 drugs have led some employers and health plans to limit or drop coverage for weight-loss use. CVS has previously said a lot of their clients have been discontinuing coverage of GLP-1 drugs for obesity.
Pharmacy benefit managers negotiate rebates and fees with drug manufacturers, and create lists, or formularies, of medications that are covered by insurance, and reimburse pharmacies for patients’ prescriptions.
“We acted boldly through active engagement and negotiation with our drug manufacturer partners to tackle affordability and access for our customers and their members,” said Ed DeVaney, president, CVS Caremark.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
