Texas Medicaid PDL Changes for Ustekinumab (Stelara) Products

Date: September 17, 2025

Attention: All Providers

Effective date: July 28, 2025

Call to action: Texas Children’s Health Plan (TCHP) would like inform providers that effective July 28, 2025 the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has updated the Texas Medicaid Preferred Drug List (PDL) for ustekinumab (Stelara) Products.

Two FDA approved interchangeable biosimilars are now available as preferred medications on the Texas Medicaid PDL: Pyzchiva (ustekinumab-TTWE) and Selarsdi (ustekinumab-aekn). Stelara is non-preferred and will require PDL prior authorization. These two interchangeable biosimilars are available at a considerable cost savings compared to Stelara, reflecting HHSC’s ongoing review of clinical evidence supporting biosimilar equivalence and cost-effectiveness.

As healthcare expenditures rise, biosimilar drugs represent a clear opportunity to reduce healthcare costs while maintaining patient access to treatment options for patients. To support this goal, we encourage providers to consider transitioning patients currently prescribed Stelara to Pyzchiva (ustekinumab-TTWE) or Selarsdi (ustekinumab-aekn) when clinically appropriate or in the best interest of your patient. This can be accomplished by either writing a new prescription for Pychiva or Selarsdi with a DAW-1 (Dispense-As-Written) notation. An interchangeable biosimilar is a biosimilar that meets additional requirements for clinical equivalency, and are as safe and effective as the original biologic they were compared to.

Next steps: Providers should share this communication with their staff. 

If you have any questions, please email TCHP Pharmacy at:tchppharmacy@texaschildrens.org.

For access to all provider alerts,log into:
www.texaschildrenshealthplan.org/provideralerts.