CVS Health to Favor Gilead Sciences’ Hepatitis C Drugs

The Wall Street Journal reported that CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS) plans to make Sovaldi and Harvoni, drugs from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), the only options for hepatitis C patients.

As quoted in the market news:

A competing treatment made by AbbVie Inc., called Viekira Pak, will be excluded from CVS’s drug formulary of approved medications, except in cases when it is medically necessary, CVS said in a letter sent to employment-benefit consultants that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The letter from CVS, a retail chain and pharmacy-benefits manager, doesn’t indicate whether Gilead gave CVS a discount on the expensive hepatitis C drugs. Sovaldi costs $84,000 per patient and Harvoni $94,500 per patient in the U.S. for 12-week treatments. Gilead and CVS declined to comment on specifics of the deal.

Click here to read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.