Alternative pharmacy benefit manager Serve You Rx is seeking to generate additional savings for its clients by adding two biosimilars for the popular drug Stelara to its formulary.
The PBM will add the biosimilar drugs Otulfi, dispensed by Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, and Yesintek. Access to both drugs will be powered by Waltz Health's specialty pharmacy network, according to an announcement.
Serve You Rx will also make "robust" copay assistance programs available to ensure members can secure the medications if they need them. The PBM estimates that the reduced price for Otulfi will save members more than 96% each year when compared to Stelara.
Yesintek, meanwhile, is set to generate more than 90% in annualized savings for plan sponsors, the PBM said.
Justin Jasniewski, CEO of Serve You Rx, told Fierce Healthcare in an interview that the company's approach is built to take some of the confusion out of the experience for specialty pharmacy, with Waltz's platform playing a key role in streamlining what members see.
"The members are able to access these lower cost biosimilars immediately, without any friction and without having to be confused about what's coming from where, because they have one source for where all their medications are coming from," he said.
"So we're not only covering the biosimilar, we're making it seamless for members to access," Jasniewski said.
Serve You Rx announced its partnership with Waltz Health in specialty pharmacy in early April, integrating the company's artificial-intelligence-powered Waltz Connect platform that's built on a network where pharmacies compete on outcomes and price.
Waltz Connect uses AI to track key data like clinical outcomes, patient eligibility and more to surface personalized insights and recommendations to members. Mark Thierer, CEO of Waltz Health, told Fierce Healthcare that the goal is to create a more dynamic market when compared to the more traditional pharmacy benefits model.
"We're flipping the model on its head," he said.
Jasniewski said that one of the PBM's biggest strengths is its ability to nimbly adapt to changing market forces. The team intends to continue leaning on that agility as well as creative and innovative partners like Waltz Health and Cost Plus Drugs in the future.
"We look forward to finding more opportunities, you know, to flip the industry kind of on its head and look at things from a different angle," he said. "And working with an organization that's committed to innovating and moving quickly, so that's been a huge advantage for us we're going to continue to leverage."