Other payers have made similar moves to add the less expensive alternatives to the high-priced immunotherapy. Optum Rx said it would add two more Humira biosimilars to its formulary July 1.
In a July 10 news release, Cigna said it would add Cyltezo, manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim, and adalimumab-adaz and Hyrimoz, both manufactured by Sandoz, to its formulary.
Humira, which treats rheumatoid arthritis and several other conditions, costs $77,000 a year, according to a 2021 report from the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform.
“By placing clinically effective biosimilars on our formularies in the same position as Humira we’re ensuring that physicians and patients have choice and flexibility, as well as lower healthcare costs through healthy competition,” Katy Wong, chief pharmacy officer of Cigna Pharmacy Management, said in the release.
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