Express Scripts Explains Plan To Drive Down Hep C Rx Prices, Break Gilead’s Lock On Providers

Gilead Sciences paid roughly 85 percent of the nation’s hepatologists to test hepatitis C medications on their patients, instead of testing the drug at facilities with large clinical trial arms, and that decentralized approach will make it difficult for makers of other brand-name hepatitis C medications to break into the market, Express Scripts Chief Medical Officer Steve Miller said. Miller told Inside Health Policy that Express Scripts hopes to get makers of competing hepatitis C drugs, expected to enter the market soon, to significantly undercut Gilead on price in exchange for Express Scripts steering market share their way — the company administers benefits for some 85 million Americans.

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