02:19 PM EDT, 09/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with details throughout.)

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) is joining other large US pharmacy benefit managers in excluding AbbVie's ( ABBV ) Humira from some of its lists of preferred drugs for reimbursement as of Jan. 1, 2025, the company's pharmacy benefits unit, Optum Rx, confirmed to MT Newswires.

The company will instead recommend less expensive biosimilar versions of the medicine to patients, including Amgen's ( AMGN ) Amjevita.

Optum Rx said it will be possible for patients to get coverage for Humira until the US Food and Drug Administration designates the preferred biosimilars on its plans as interchangeable. The regulator is expected to grant the designation in 2025, according to Optum Rx.

AbbVie ( ABBV ), Amgen ( AMGN ), and the FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires.

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