When the FDA approved BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Orladeyo (berotralstat) last month, the drug became the first oral treatment for prophylaxis to prevent hereditary angioedema (HAE) attacks, AIS Health reported. According to Zitter Insights, payers with nearly three-quarters of covered lives plan to manage it at parity to other prophylactic treatments.

The FDA approved the first drug to treat HAE, Shire plc's Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]), on Oct. 10, 2008. Since then, the FDA has approved eight drugs to treat HAE: half for acute attacks and half for prophylaxis.

Pharmaceutical treatment for different types of epilepsy generally still relies on tried-and-true generics, despite recent efforts by drug manufacturers to introduce new branded medications into the mix, PBM insiders tell AIS Health.

Xcopri (cenobamate tablets), manufactured by SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.'s subsidiary SK Life Science, Inc., launched in May for the treatment of partial-onset seizures. However, many plans haven't jumped to add Xcopri to their formularies, says Mesfin Tegenu, R.Ph., president of PerformRx.

States and the federal government recently began rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine to health care workers across the country. Health plans, particularly those that serve high-risk individuals, may be ideally situated to coordinate care and update members on vaccination opportunities, experts tell AIS Health.

The FDA on Dec. 11 authorized emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech in individuals age 16 and older. Then the agency on Dec. 18 authorized Moderna’s vaccine for emergency use in people 18 years or older.

In its latest quarterly Drug Pipeline Insights Report, OptumRx includes a diverse array of medications that the UnitedHealth Group-owned PBM believes are likely to make a market impact when they're approved by the FDA, AIS Health reported. One interesting trend that applies to three of the five highlighted drugs is the fact that each is the first oral option in its respective category.

While oral medications tend to be thought of as more convenient than injectable or IV-administered therapies, that factor alone may not confer as much of a competitive advantage as one might think, according to one OptumRx executive.

With FDA issuing emergency use authorization to the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech last week and Moderna Inc.'s offering not far behind, in the coming months there will undoubtedly be a variety of vaccines being administered to Americans, AIS Health reported. But who will be paying for them?

"In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, there is a very simple take-home message, which is that no one going to get the vaccine will be charged for the vaccine or its administration, no matter what type of insurance they have, or whether they have insurance at all," Karyn Schwartz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), said during a Dec. 3 web briefing.

As details continue to emerge about the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and how they will be administered, the role that payers will play in the process is becoming clearer, AIS Health reported.

It's imperative for health plans to do two key things at the same time, according to Katherine Dallow, M.D., the vice president of clinical programs and strategy at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Payers need to help the entities that will be distributing the vaccine to identify the individuals who should be first in line to be vaccinated, and they need to use their resources to help educate the community.