Boston, MA 05/06/2014 (wallstreetpr) – UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) has estimated revenue in this financial year to be between $128 billion to $129 billion. Earnings per share for this period are likely to be between $5.40 to $5.60.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) has entered into a long-term agreement with OptumRx to give preferential coverage of ZUBSOLV. ZUBSOLV will qualify as the lone combination product of naloxone and buprenorphine on the company’s entire portfolio of formularies, which also would have generic and brand formulations.
Therapath LLC has entered into a nationwide agreement with United Healthcare which is a division of UnitedHealth Group. The agreement aims at an alliance that seeks to make available pathology analysis for its specialty services.Therapath will work hand in hand along with the United Healthcare doctor network to handle as well as process the pathology specimens at a mush lower cost than other non-participating pathology labs. The deal will reduce the turn around time of final results for both the physicians as well as patients.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) has spent over $100 million to cover a very expensive new drug for hepatitis C from Gilead Sciences Inc in its initial three months, in the market. The drug is called Sovaldi. This amount is exponential and was not expected. This development has raised a furore over the ever increasing costs of specialty drugs. This has invited scrutiny on drug prices in the U.S., which are way ahead of the remaining part of the world. Gilead Sciences has been asked to justify the pricing for Sovaldi.
Last December, the U.S. drug regulators approved Sovaldi as it was the first among the very few path breaking hepatitis C treatments that is stipulated to be in the market in the near future.
Sovaldi has been proven to cure maximum patients of the liver degenerating virus with very little side effects. However, the exorbitant pricing has invited the wrath of insurers, health officials and Medicaid directors. The total cost of treating about 66% of the probable 3.2 million people containing the virus could easily be estimated at $200 billion. The spends on Sovaldi are likely to soften after the initial huge wave of patients is successfully treated with the drug.
