Key Findings

1. Who leads? Effexor XR is also the leader in the Medicare market in terms of tier 1 and 2 access with approximately 87% availability. Despite introductions of two generics during the evaluation period, Effexor XR's overall status has not changed in aggregate.
2. Who gained ground? Similar to the trends on the commercial side, Cymbalta significantly increased its tier 1 and 2 positioning starting in the 4th quarter of 2006. Its tier 1/2 availability increased from 45% in October 2006 to over 80% availability by January 2007. The key formulary wins that helped drive the rapid improvement were in several United owned or affiliated plans — the AARP and Secure Horizons plans. Because these plans represent a significant percentage of overall Medicare lives, there was a large movement in Cymbalta's overall formulary position.
3. Who lost ground? Similar to the commercial market, Paxil CR gradually lost ground, while branded Effexor and Zoloft both lost significant availability due to the patent expirations.

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Lack of Impact from Two Key Generics in the Anti-depressant Formulary Market (PDF 296KB)

Archives

December 2007: Lack of Impact from Two Key Generics in the Anti-depressant Formulary Market

October 2007: Formulary Position Differences between Commercial and Medicare Plans

September 2007: Impact of Patent Loss for Zocor on the Statin Marketplace