Two U.S. healthcare providers drop Glaxo's Avandia

Two U.S. healthcare providers drop Glaxo's Avandia
LONDON (Reuters) - Two U.S. pharmacy benefit managers saidon Thursday they had dropped GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetesdrug Avandia from their national formularies due to safetyconcerns.
The moves by Prime Therapeutics and HealthTrans mark thelatest example of U.S. healthcare providers deciding to limitaccess to the drug, following an earlier decision by the U.S.Department of Veterans Affairs to severely restrict use.
Such actions, particularly if followed by others, mayfurther undermine sales of the once-popular medicine, whichhave been hit hard recently by a report linking it to heartattacks.
Prime and HealthTrans said in separate statements they hadmade their decisions after a thorough analysis of the clinicalliterature examining the safety and efficacy of Avandia.
"Prime takes drug safety warnings very seriously and ourprimary concern is the safety of our members," said CraigMattson, senior director of drug technology assessment andformulary development.
Britain-based Glaxo, Europe's biggest drugmaker, said itwas surprised and disappointed.
"It limits options for treatment and could be detrimentalfor patients. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has saidthe data remains inconclusive and therefore to limit patients'options in this is disappointing," a spokeswoman said.
Concerns about the safety of Avandia were triggered in Mayby a U.S. analysis linking it to a 43 percent higher risk ofheart attack.
Avandia was Glaxo's second-biggest drug in 2006, withworldwide revenue of 1.6 billion pounds ($3.2 billion), butsales have plunged since May, with revenue in the United Statesdown 48 percent in the third quarter from the year-ago period.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Holmes)