Â鶹ŮÓÅ

The battle for market share in the booming business for hepatitis C drugs is shifting to state Medicaid programs, which are busy negotiating discounts and supply deals with pharmaceutical companies. Missouri and Connecticut are among the states that are either negotiating or securing discounts on expensive new hepatitis C drugs in exchange for making them the preferred options for their state’s Medicaid recipients. (Loftus, 1/28)

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer by sales, picked Gilead Sciences Inc.’s Harvoni as its preferred hepatitis C treatment, according to a person familiar with the matter. The decision applies to UnitedHealth’s fully insured commercial customers, as well as to Medicaid and Medicare members. The Minnetonka, Minnesota-based insurer has about 45 million U.S. health-plan customers, though not all follow the company’s drug picks. (Tracer, 1/28)