OptumRx has Added Talicia to its Commercial Formulary

OptumRx, part of the UnitedHealth Group, has added RedHill Biopharma’s Talicia (omeprazole magnesium, amoxicillin and rifabutin) to its commercial formulary as an unrestricted brand for H. pylori treatment, effective July 1, 2021.

This decision extends U.S. health care coverage for Talica to more than 26 million Americans, according to officials from RedHill. “This listing represents the understanding within the medical community of the need to combat the high and growing resistance of H. pylori to commonly used antibiotics with an effective new first-line treatment,” Rick Scruggs, RedHill’s chief commercial officer, said in a statement.

Talicia is a fixed-dose, all-in-one oral capsule combination of two antibiotics (amoxicillin and rifabutin) and a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) (omeprazole). In November 2019, the FDA approved Talicia for the treatment of H. pylori infection in adults. In the pivotal phase 3 study, Talicia demonstrated 84% eradication of H. pylori infection in the intent-to-treat (ITT) group vs. 58% in the active comparator arm. This study also showed that patients in the trial who were confirmed adherent to their therapy had response rates of 90.3% in the Talicia arm vs. 64.7% in the active comparator arm.

Chronic gastritis caused by H. pylori infection can lead to increased risk of stomach cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Stomach cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the second most common cause of cancer death globally, according to the National Cancer Institute.