Merck & Co. entered into a performance-based contract with a US insurer for Januvia (sitagliptin) and Janumet (sitagliptin/metformin), which will link discounts for the products to improvements in medication adherence and the reduction of blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, health service company Cigna announced Thursday. Eric Elliott, the president of the pharmacy benefit management division of Cigna, stated that “Merck should be recognized as the first major pharmaceutical company to offer increased discounts on its oral anti-diabetic products, supporting…efforts to reduce A1C levels…regardless of what medication [patients] may be taking.”
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Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will increase discounts on its two products for the insurer if the A1C levels for patients taking any oral anti-diabetic medications show improvement at the end of the year. In addition, if Cigna’s claims data for patients taking Januvia and Janumet show that they are adhering to their physician-prescribed treatment regimen, discounts on the two drugs will increase further. Merck’s products will also benefit from preferred status on Cigna’s drug coverage lists.
Merck commented that it was “committed to finding new approaches to demonstrate the value of our products to patients, physicians and payers,” while Sethu Reddy, a regional director for scientific affairs for the company, said Merck “is confident in the value of both Januvia and Janumet.” Meanwhile, Elliott indicated that Cigna is negotiating similar contracts with other drugmakers. In response to news of the agreement, former chief pharmacy officer for WellPoint, Robert Seidman, remarked that “we’re going to see a growth in outcomes guarantees for pharmaceuticals, and it’s very healthy.”
Last week, sanofi-aventis and Procter & Gamble announced they signed a deal with another US health insurer, in which the companies agreed to reimburse the medical costs of non-spinal fractures in women taking osteoporosis drug Actonel (risedronate sodium).
Source: FirstWord
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