Cigna has entered into an outcomes-based contract with the pharmaceutical company Novartis for the drug Entresto, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
Reduced ejection fraction, also referred to as systolic heart failure, is when the heart muscle does not contract effectively and less oxygen-rich blood is pumped out to the body, according to the American Heart Association website.
The pay-for-performance agreement with Novartis ties the financial terms to how well the drug improves the relative health of Cigna’s customers, Cigna said in a news release. The primary metric is reduction in the proportion of customers with heart failure hospitalizations.
“Competitive drug prices are important, but equally so is ensuring that customers’ medications are actually working as, or better than, expected,” Christopher Bradbury, senior vice president, integrated clinical and specialty drug solutions for Cigna Pharmacy Management, said in the release. “Outcomes-based contracts require that prescription medicines perform in the real world at least as well as they did during clinical trials and are a valuable tool for improving health and managing costs. …”
The agreement is for Cigna’s commercial business.
