April 25 (Reuters) - Cigna ( CI ) plans to make close

copies of AbbVie's ( ABBV ) blockbuster arthritis drug Humira

available with no out-of-pocket payment to eligible patients in

the U.S. using its specialty pharmacy beginning in June, the

health insurer said on Thursday.

Cigna ( CI ) said it will stock high- and low-concentration

biosimilar versions of Humira from drugmakers including

Boehringer Ingelheim, Teva and Alvotech ( ALVO ) at

its Accredo pharmacy.

"Not all biosimilars are created equal," Matt Perlberg,

president of Cigna's ( CI ) Evernorth Health Services' pharmacy and

care delivery businesses, said in an interview. "We know that

patients need options, and we wanted to make sure that we offer

the right experience, level of clinical care, and affordability

for as many eligible patients as possible."

Unlike easy to manufacture pills that can be copied and sold

as generics at a huge discount once patents lapse, complex

biologic medicines made from living cells cannot be exactly

duplicated. Their close alternatives are called biosimilars.

Despite nine biosimilars being launched in the U.S. last

year, AbbVie ( ABBV ) has held onto more than 98% of the Humira market.

Privately-held German drugmaker Boehringer launched its version,

Cyltezo, last July but has only managed to sell a couple

thousand prescriptions in total since then, according to IQVIA

data.

Almost 3 million Humira prescriptions have been written

during the same period, although tens of thousands of scripts

have started to shift to biosimilar Hyrimoz each week since CVS

Health's ( CVS ) pharmacy benefits unit took Humira off the list

of drugs it recommends insurers reimburse. Hyrimoz is made by

Switzerland's Sandoz.

Cyltezo and Simlandi, from Israel's Teva and Iceland's

Alvotech ( ALVO ), are designated as interchangeable, meaning they can be

substituted for the original without consulting the prescriber.

Simlandi, which was approved in the U.S. in February, is the

only interchangeable biosimilar of Humira that also comes in a

high-concentration dose.

AbbVie's ( ABBV ) high-concentration version of Humira makes up close

to 90% of its sales in the United States.

Cigna ( CI ) said these biosimilars will be priced at about 85%

lower than the $6,922.62 monthly list price of Humira, and that

it had made agreements with the manufacturers as well as its

distributor Quallent to bring the out-of-pocket cost down to $0.

The company said the move should save around $3,500 on

average per year for some of the 100,000 Accredo patients

currently using either Humira or one of its biosimilars.

Perlberg did not provide an estimate for how many patients they

anticipate switching.

"Different patients adopt products at different times," said

Perlberg.