Express Scripts Calls Out Valeant, Says It's 'Holding Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Accountable For Excessive Price Hikes'

Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ: ESRX), the largest pharmacy benefit management organization in the U.S., announced on Friday it has decided to exclude Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX)'s Glumetza from its formulary.

Express Scripts noted that throughout Valeant Pharmaceutical raised the prices on more than 60 of its drugs by at least 50 percent in 2014. Throughout 2015, the pharmaceutical giant "continued this strategy" with the highest average drug price hike in the industry - 60 percent across 50 products.

Express Scripts singled out Glumetza, which experienced a price jump greater than 800 percent last year.

"By excluding Valeant's Glumetza from our formulary, Express Scripts will be leveraging market competition to lower drug costs and keep medicine within reach of the patients who need it," the company said in its press release. "Together with our clients, Express Scripts has changed the industry by holding pharmaceutical manufacturers accountable for excessive price hikes that put medicine out of reach for those who need it."

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Formulary Exclusions Have Saved Clients More Than $3 Billion

Express Scripts continued that it's excluding Glumetza from its formularies as a more affordable generic equivalent will be available in the U.S. on February 1. The company also stated that retail pharmacies that have signed agreements with Valeant to prioritize the dispensing of Glumetza "will not be allowed to process" the transaction.

"Formulary exclusions like this one have saved our clients more than $3 billion over the past three years," the company concluded. "These exclusions are clinically sound, affect fewer than 0.5% of our patients, and are coupled with a pathway for medical exceptions in the rare cases where the physician deems the excluded drug to be necessary."