First interchangeable insulin biosimilar gains preferred status on one of the largest national formularies in the US.

Oncology drugs are no longer immune to pharmacy benefit management formulary exclusions in the commercial market and even drugs administered in a physician’s office are increasingly being subjected to rebate-driven coverage decisions.

Novartis gets some praise for being willing to embrace cost-effective drug prices, but health policy analysts are skeptical the industry would truly adopt the idea for its best-selling drugs, particularly if the appropriate guardrails were put in place to ensure broader budget impact was controlled.  Holes were also poked in the way Novartis determined the total cost of drug utilization management on the US health system. 

Sales at the Swiss major have returned to around 80%-90% of their pre-pandemic levels, according to CFO Harry Kirsch after unveiling a healthy set of second-quarter financials.