Gilead Drops After Drug Manager Blocks $1,000 Hep C Pill
This article is for subscribers only.
Gilead Sciences Inc. shares sank after the biggest drug-benefit manager in the U.S. chose a pill from AbbVie Inc. to be the sole hepatitis C treatment approved for many patients, as insurers seek to rein in the rising cost of medicine.
Express Scripts Holding Co., which helps insurers and large employers provide drug coverage, opted to narrow doctors’ treatment options in exchange for lower prices. On its most widely used list of approved drugs, Express Scripts will include AbbVie’s Viekira Pak for patients with genotype 1, the nation’s most common form of hepatitis C.