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Formulary Changes for Basal Insulin

Starting October 1, 2010, Lantus^® insulin will be removed from the Select Drug Program^® Formulary, and all new prescriptions for Lantus will require prior authorization. Levemir^® will remain on the formulary as the preferred brand-name insulin and will continue to be available at the brand formulary level of cost-sharing.

FutureScripts^®, our pharmacy benefits manager, reviewed the available clinical data, including data provided by both insulin manufacturers, and found no clinically relevant studies that indicated a significant difference in outcome or glycated hemoglobin control between Levemir (insulin detemir) and Lantus. In fact, the larger controlled trials indicate that these products maintain the same control between groups. In addition, the more recent clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals demonstrate the efficacy of Levemir as a once-daily dosing product at similar rates to Lantus. Please note that, even in cross-over trials, there was no significant difference in control measures in groups that were switched from Lantus to Levemir.

For more information about why we made this change or about our pharmacy policy and prior authorization criteria for insulin, please refer to the September edition of Partners in Health Update^SM.