Memorandum
Lilly/BI announced yesterday that Glyxambi (empagliflozin/linagliptin) is now available in pharmacies across the US, including Walgreens and Rite Aid. The launch, coming a bit less than two months after FDA approval, makes Glyxambi the first SGLT-2 inhibitor/DPP-4 inhibitor fixed-dose combination (FDC) to reach the US market. Like all three marketed SGLT-2 inhibitors, Glyxambi has an associated savings card program that will allow many commercially insured patients to pay nothing for a year, with renewals available until March 2018. We are excited to see this much-anticipated class finally reaching patients, though reimbursement will clearly be key for long-term access - according to a local Walgreens, the out-of-pocket cost for Glyxambi is $581 for 30 pills, roughly 40% higher than either Jardiance or Tradjenta, though significantly lower than the combination ($411 for Jardiance [empagliflozin] and $414 for Tradjenta [linagliptin]).