Express Scripts adds Pfizer’s Lipitor back to preferred drugs list

Express Scripts Inc. said Wednesday it has reached an agreement with Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug maker that will put the cholesterol drug Lipitor back onto the pharmacy benefit manager’s list of preferred drugs.

Express Scripts, which recently moved its headquarters from Maryland Heights to the University of Missouri - St. Louis campus, said the change is the result of an improved rebate agreement with Pfizer.

The change is a big one for Express Scripts. In January 2006, Express Scripts started using price incentives and an extensive education campaign to move patients away from Lipitor. The goal was to move more patients onto lower-priced cholesterol drugs and Zocor, which lost patent protection last June, clearing the way for its generic version.

Express Scripts announced in April that the strategy worked, saving patients and their employers and unions $230 million on cholesterol drugs.

The move was not beneficial to Pfizer. JP Morgan analyst Lisa Gill said Lipitor has since lost 6 percent of its market share. After predicting the Express Scripts decision May 25, Gill wrote in a note to investors, “the move signals the importance of a drug’s positioning on a PBM preferred formulary, as Express Scripts move had eroded Lipitor’s share within its member base to below normal levels.

Express Scripts spokesman Steve Littlejohn would not say whether the company is pursuing similar arrangements with other drug makers. Littlejohn, however, said Express Scripts does anticipate a “competitive” rebate bidding process this year.