Specialty pharmacy to close over Valeant pricing flap

After Valeant and Express Scripts cut ties with mail order specialty pharmacy Philidor Rx Services, the company said it would be closing.

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Valeant ended its relationship with Philidor, after short-seller Citron Research claimed the pharmacy had been used to prop up sales of Valeant drugs. Philidor allegedly used “aggressive tactics” to ensure that PBMs pay for Valeant’s medications, rather than lower-cost alternatives that are preferred by insurers, MarketWatchreported.

Valeant denied the allegations, saying it properly accounts for all its transactions with Philidor and other specialty pharmacies.

Still, the pricing flap led Express Scripts, the largest U.S. PBM, to review other pharmacy programs that Valeant “may have a similar relationship with,” David Whitrap, senior director of corporate communications for Express Scripts, told Formulary Watch.

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“We are reviewing and evaluating all similar captive pharmacy arrangements that we know of and will work to identify others,” Whitrap said. “By captive pharmacies, we mean those pharmacies that derive the vast majority of their prescription volume from one manufacturer and/or one product.”

However, the PBM has not said it is specifically targeted AbbVie and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, as reported by some media outlets, according to Whitrap.

 “We routinely monitor our network and take action when we see pharmacies trying to circumvent the cost-saving solutions that our clients implement. If we find pharmacies, captive or otherwise, that are not adhering to our provider agreements, we remove them from our networks,” Whitrap said.

Meanwhile, Philidor is working with Valeant over the next 30 to 90 days to help patients transfer their prescriptions to other pharmacies.

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