Cross-Industry Partnership Reduces The Cost of Popular Brand Name Drugs

Today, Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) announced the launch of Inside Rx, a new, partially owned subsidiary that applies Express Scripts' purchasing power to expand affordable access to brand and generic medications for patients in need. Inside Rx has partnered with Good Rx, America's leading source for prescription drug prices and savings, to deliver average savings of 34 percent on prescription medications for the uninsured and those who experience high out-of-pocket costs for their prescription medications.

Beginning today, patients can visit https://goodrx.com or download the Good Rx mobile app to instantly access significant savings for more than 40 popular brand name drugs that treat diabetes, asthma, heart disease, depression, gastrointestinal disorders, gout, and other common illnesses. While savings vary per drug and pharmacy, eligible patients can save an average of 34 percent off of the drug's typical cash price, which could translate into savings of hundreds or even thousands of dollars per person per year.

Benefiting from these discounts is easy; eligible patients simply present the discount via card or mobile app at one of 40,000 pharmacies nationwide, including CVS, the Kroger Family of Pharmacies and Walgreens. There are no membership fees or costs to obtain savings. A complete list of available medications and participating pharmacies are available at https://insiderx.com.

"We have a unique opportunity to put medicine within reach of those who need it. By practicing pharmacy smarter, we are bringing together companies across healthcare to truly deliver value," said Express Scripts President and CEO Tim Wentworth. "We are proud to power a novel solution that makes brand-name medicines more affordable and accessible, particularly for people without prescription coverage."

The program represents an important, and unique, cross-industry collaboration among Inside Rx, Good Rx, participating retail pharmacies, and major pharmaceutical companies, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly and Company, Lundbeck, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals. All stakeholders share a focus to ensure patients have expanded access to affordable medications. Today, more than 30 million Americans pay the full cost of their prescriptions.

"The Good Rx / Inside Rx program is a simple and effective way to help millions of Americans who struggle to afford their prescriptions," said Doug Hirsch, co-founder and co-CEO of GoodRx. "GoodRx is proud to partner with Inside Rx to reduce the cost of diabetes, asthma and other important drugs that patients need."

"We are pleased to participate in Express Scripts' new program that will play an important role in helping under-insured and uninsured patients receive the medicines they need at a price they can afford," said Brad Fluegel, Senior Vice President, Chief Healthcare Commercial Market Development Officer, Walgreens.

"Kroger is excited to partner with Express Scripts on this new program that creates affordability and expands access to medications for many of our patients," said Colleen Lindholz, President of Pharmacy and The Little Clinic, The Kroger Co. Soon, Inside Rx cards also will be available at the Kroger Family of Pharmacy locations.

Inside Rx is not insurance, and is not available to members enrolled in government-sponsored health programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE. Patients with a high-deductible insurance plan should review their coverage details to determine if the discount available through Inside Rx is right for them.

About Express Scripts Express Scripts puts medicine within reach of tens of millions of people by aligning with plan sponsors, taking bold action and delivering patient-centered care to make better health more affordable and accessible.

Headquartered in St. Louis, Express Scripts provides integrated pharmacy benefit management services, including network-pharmacy claims processing, specialty pharmacy care, specialty benefit management, benefit-design consultation, drug utilization review, formulary management, and medical and drug data analysis services. Express Scripts also distributes a full range of biopharmaceutical products and provides extensive cost-management and patient-care services.