Express Scripts will exclude 64 drugs from insurance coverage in 2018, including generic versions of Mylan's EpiPen, reports Reuters.
The St. Louis-based pharmacy benefit manager has been excluding treatments from its coverage since 2014 due to concerns over high drug costs. Express Scripts said the exclusions allow the company to better negotiate lower prices with drug companies and expects to save customers around $2.5 billion in 2018, compared to the $1.8 billion in savings this year.
Newly excluded drugs for 2018 include Amgen's drug Neupogen — which boosts patients white blood cell counts during chemotherapy — and Eli Lilly's osteoporosis drug Forteo. Express Scripts is also excluding coverage for EpiPen competitors like Kaleo's Auvi-Q device and Impax Laboratories' USP Auto-Injector.
To view Express Scripts' full exclusion list, along with its preferred alternative drugs, click here.
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