Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Payers push back on LLY’s Jardiance:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/usa-healthcare-diabetes-idUSL1N1211PP20151002

America's largest health insurers are urging doctors to stick with current standard treatments for diabetes instead of flocking to a new drug from Eli Lilly & Co that is showing it can provide life-saving results for one-third of patients.

Aetna Inc, CVS Health Corp and Molina Healthcare Inc said they would need further clinical data and a change in medical society guidelines on Lilly's Jardiance before agreeing to make it easier for patients to receive the $4,800-a-year treatment. That's a process that could take anywhere from 18 months to several years.

UnitedHealth Group Inc, Anthem Inc, Express Scripts and Cigna Corp said they would also still adhere to the traditional treatment regime based largely on cheaper generic drugs and carefully review the data before making any changes.

…Insurers, who were as surprised by the data as the investors, said Wall Street should slow down. Many want to see if a similar treatment from Johnson & Johnson, Invokana, shows comparable benefits in clinical trial results expected in 2017.

That would give insurers a stronger case to pit Lilly and the makers of similar drugs against each other, a tactic they employed with Gilead Sciences Inc's blockbuster hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi…