Hep C Drug Deal Raises Patient-Choice Concerns

Hep C Drug Deal Raises Patient-Choice Concerns
By ED SILVERMAN
Jan. 8, 2015 3:51 p.m. ET

At a time when the rising cost of medicines is causing consternation, an exclusive deal between Express Scripts Holding Co. , the nation’s largest pharmacy-benefits manager, and AbbVie Inc., a big drug maker, over a new hepatitis C treatment is generating concern about the implications for patient choice.

The deal came after the benefits manager spent a year railing about the prices charged by Gilead Sciences Inc., which until now has had a lock on the market. Fresh off FDA approval for its drug, AbbVie last month offered Express Scripts an undisclosed discount off its $84,000 list price. The newest Gilead drug, called Harvoni, costs between $63,000 and $94,500, depending upon the regimen.

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