BioCentury
ARTICLE | Clinical News

Phentermine/topiramate regulatory update

December 24, 2012 8:00 AM UTC

Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ:ESRX, St. Louis, Mo.) added obesity drug Qsymia phentermine/topiramate from Vivus to its national pharmacy formularies. Qsymia was added as a Tier 3 drug, with an estimated co-pay of $50-$60 for a monthly prescription. In a November conference call, Vivus said payers are covering Qsymia with an average co-pay of $62. Express Scripts declined to comment on whether it had added fellow obesity drug Belviq lorcaserin from Eisai Co. Ltd. (Tokyo:4523; Osaka:4523, Tokyo, Japan) and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA, San Diego, Calif.) to its formularies. ...