Celltrion's Avastin biosimilar listed on Ventegra's formulary

Celltrion’s bevacizumab anticancer biosimilar Vegzelma (Celltrion)

Celltrion Healthcare, Celltrion Group’s overseas sales unit, announced Tuesday that Vegzelma, Celltrion’s biosimilar referencing Roche's Avastin (bevacizumab), has been listed as a preferred drug on a formulary managed by Ventegra.

“Through Ventegra's proprietary formulary program, which covers 13 million members in the US, Vegzelma will be able to increase its share in the US bevacizumab market,” an official from Celltrion Healthcare said.

The latest signing between Celltrion and Ventegra comes around two months after they signed another contract to list Celltrion’s adalimumab biosimilar Yuflyma as a preferred drug on Ventegra’s formulary in September.

"The inclusion of our FDA-approved bevacizumab biosimilar on Ventegra's preferred formulary status is another important milestone to help increase access to oncology treatment for those living with indicated cancer types across the US," Celltrion USA's chief commercial officer Tom Nusbickel said.

Nusbickel stressed that Celltrion USA has been committed to introducing safe and effective biosimilars to the US market, and the inclusion of Vegzelma on Ventegra's formulary will hold “tremendous promise for cost savings for patients, plans, and our entire health care system.”

“Our decision to add another Celltrion's oncology biosimilar product to our formulary supports greater affordability and access across this entire treatment class," Ventegra CEO Robert T. Taketomo said.

Ventegra is the first company in the US to introduce the medical benefits manager business model, which is designed to enable all drugs to be covered under a single integrated healthcare benefit versus separate billing for medical drugs and pharmacy drugs.

By Shim Woo-hyun(ws@heraldcorp.com)