Vivus’ Weight Management Drug Qsymia Now Available through Walmart Home Delivery Pharmacy and covered by Express Scripts
By Adam Brown
This month, in a surprise move, Vivus announced that its weight management medication Qsymia is now available via mail order through Walmart. This is an addition to the existing certified mail order pharmacy network of CVS, Walgreens, Express Scripts, and Kaiser Permanente (members only) as home delivery options for the medication. We’re encouraged to see that Walmart will participate in the Get Started Program as well, which offers a 14-day free trial of the lowest, starting dose of Qsymia (see new now next in diaTribe #49 for more information).
Vivus also recently announced that Qsymia is now covered as a standard benefit under the Express Scripts pharmacy benefit plan. This means that participating patients will now pay an estimated $50-$60 for their co-payment for a monthly prescription of Qsymia, approximately one-third of the retail price. Given Qsymia’s strong efficacy in late stage trials – patients lost 25 pounds on average! – these agreements should give more patients affordable access to the drug. Longer-term, we strongly believe more insurance companies and the government will begin paying for it. To learn more about Qsymia’s patient program, called “Q and Me”, which is available to anyone looking to lose weight (one doesn’t have to be on Qsymia to participate in this educational program), see www.qsymia.com. –AW/AB
