Partnerships with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are critical to maintaining favorable pharmaceutical product market access. HIRC's report, Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Contracting Landscape and Manufacturer Competitive Assessment, reviews pharmacy benefit manager executives' evaluation of manufacturers and focuses on trends in contracting. The report addresses the following questions:

• Who do PBMs select as their overall manufacturer partner of choice?
• How do 40+ pharmaceutical manufacturers rate in willingness to contract?
• Which manufacturers are nominated as most willing to contract for medications covered under the pharmacy benefit? On the medical benefit?

Key Finding: The largest PBMs have a GPO contracting entity involved in manufacturer contract negotiations; GPO's most commonly charge manufacturers administrative fees and vendor fees (data & contracting charges).

Lilly Leads as Pharmacy Benefit Managers' Top Overall Partner of Choice in 2025. PBM key decision-makers were asked to nominate a single pharmaceutical manufacturer as their overall partner of choice in 2025. Lilly receives the most partner of choice nominations, followed by Amgen and AbbVie. The primary factors driving nominations include demonstrating an understanding of customer's business needs and a firm's account management support/personnel.

The full report provides a complete listing of partner of choice nominations and examines the rationale for PBMs' ratings in detail.

PBMs Report that Contracts are Most Common for GLP-1, RA, and MS Medications. Pharmacy benefit manager key decision-makers were asked to consider a list of 20+ therapeutic areas and indicate the status of contract offerings in the past 12-18 months. Panelists most frequently report contracts for obesity/diabetes - GLP-1 agonists, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis medications (69% of respondents), followed by airway diseases (66%), diabetes - SGLT2 inhibitors (63%), and migraine products (63%).

The complete report provides the types of contracts reported and most common discount/rebate amounts across 22 therapeutic areas.

Research Methodology and Report Availability. In December 2024 and January 2025, HIRC surveyed 32 pharmacy benefit manager key decision-makers from very large, mid-size, and small/upcoming PBMs. Online surveys and follow-up telephone interviews were used to gather information. The complete report, Pharmacy Benefit Managers: Contracting Landscape and Manufacturer Competitive Assessment, is available now to HIRC’s Managed Markets subscribers at www.hirc.com.