Author: Peter

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid have called off their $9.4 billion merger agreement. Instead, Walgreens says it will attempt to purchase one-half of Rite Aid's stores for $5.18 billion in cash. Executives said they crafted the smaller deal to address regulatory issues, but antitrust experts said it does not eliminate competition concerns. The Federal Trade Commission's review of the original Walgreens-Rite Aid transaction stretched 18 months, and the commission reportedly did not back away from concerns that the deal would have harmed competition. The commission worried about the merger's impact in regions where both companies have a strong store presence...Walgreens...said the smaller transaction addresses "all substantive" FTC concerns. The company will be adding stores in regions where it currently lacks a large presence, including the Northeast and MidAtlantic..."There's a chance that it won't go, that's the reality of the process. We believe it makes sense, we just have to wait until it plays out."

There will be four insurance companies offering insurance plans on the Exchange with a total of 24 individual health plans to choose from between Clark, Washoe and Nye counties in 2018...The Nevada Division of Insurance has posted a summary of proposed rate changes for Plan Year 2018 on the Division’s website. These proposed rate changes are for plans sold on the Nevada’s health insurance Exchange in the individual market..."Posting these rate changes on the website allows the Division to be transparent with Nevada’s consumers so that they have an opportunity to review these requests from insurance carriers," said Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson. "This is also an opportunity for consumers to submit their comments to the Division during this rate review process."...The average proposed rate change for the individual market on Exchange is an increase of 38%.

Centrexion Therapeutics announcing six-month data with its drug, CNTX-4975, for the treatment of moderate to severe knee osteoarthritis pain. The results are from a Phase 2b trial...and Centrexion is pretty excited by what has been seen so far:..The new data show large and statistically significant pain relief...a single 1 mg injection...resulted in large levels of pain reduction compared to baseline and statistical separation from placebo...These data represent the largest reductions seen in knee osteoarthritis reported for any drug treatment, marketed or in development…the active component is capsaicin...CNTX-4975 is "based on Centrexion’s proprietary STRATI technology (Synthetic TRans cApsaicin ultra-pure Injection), a highly potent, ultrapure, synthetic form of trans-capsaicin."...In certain ways, CNTX-4975 is reminiscent of the EpiPen. The active component of the latter is epinephrine, which, like capsaicin, is a drug that’s been known for decades. It’s the injector device, however, and not the drug, that drives Mylan’s proprietary position–and price–for the EpiPen. Similarly, the STRATI technology is what protects CNTX-4975 competitively, as anyone can easily access trans-capsaicin. In addition, epinephrine and trans-capsaicin are cheap drugs. These aren’t complex biologic molecules...The major cost will be for the STRATI technology...it is possible that Centrexion and its investors are going to demand premium pricing for the unprecedented pain relief...How will payers react?

The National Community Pharmacists Association and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association have filed an amici curiae brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of the state of Arkansas and against a challenge by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association to Act 900, passed by the Arkansas General Assembly in 2015. The ongoing legal battle has prevented Arkansas from implementing a more transparent system under which pharmacy benefit managers determine generic prescription drug reimbursements to pharmacies. In response, NCPA...issued the following statement:..."The Arkansas legislature approved Act 900 because it recognized that PBMs' secretive approach to determining generic prescription drug reimbursement was unfair to pharmacies and patients. Pharmacies deserve to know what their reimbursement will be for a medication, and that they can at least break-even on what they dispense. That's the kind of essential transparency Act 900 enacted. PCMA seems less interested in fairness and more interested in filling PBM corporations' pockets. They continue to spout specious arguments that would undermine legislators' intent...

Endo International Plc agreed...to remove its long-acting opioid painkiller from the U.S. market to comply with the health regulator's request last month, sending its shares down as much as 3 percent...The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June had requested the withdrawal of Endo's Opana ER, marking the first time the agency asked for an opioid painkiller to be taken off the market for public health reasons...The regulator's request followed the recommendation of an independent panel of advisers, which concluded that the drug's benefits no longer outweighed its risks...

Kelly Davio, Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth — a life for a lab book?...In the past few months, China has announced two new crackdowns on research misconduct — one of which could lead to executions for scientists who doctor their data...Scientists have been sounding alarms for years about the integrity of research in China. One recent survey estimated that 40 percent of biomedical papers by Chinese scholars were tainted by misconduct. Funding bodies there have in the past announced efforts to crack down on fraud, including clawing back money from scientists who cheat on their grants...Chinese...Ministry of Science and Technology proclaimed a "no tolerance" policy for research misconduct — although it’s not clear what that might look like...the mass retractions "seriously harmed the international reputation of our country’s scientific research and the dignity of Chinese scientists at large."...courts approved a new policy calling for stiff prison sentences for researchers who fabricate data in studies that lead to drug approvals. If the misconduct ends up harming people, then the punishment on the table even includes the death penalty...

The Division of Insurance has announced that Nevada’s insurance carriers that participate in the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange have decided to only offer coverage to Clark, Washoe, and Nye counties beginning in 2018...Currently three medical carriers offer plans on Nevada Health Link:

• Anthem (The only insurance company currently selling statewide)
• Health Plan of Nevada
• Prominence Health Plan

But some changes are coming as of January 1, 2018.

• Anthem & Health Plan of Nevada will only be offering coverage in Washoe, Clark, and Nye Counties.
• Prominence Health Plan announced this week that they will be pulling out of the Nevada Exchange market.
• Two new companies, Aetna and Centene will be joining the exchange market but according to the Division of Insurance at most they will only be offering plans in Washoe, Clark, and Nye counties

The Division of Insurance says this will leave about 8,000 Nevada residents without coverage across 14 counties. The largest group is about 5,000 people across Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, and Storey Counties...If you live outside of Washoe, Clark, or Nye counties and have concerns about your coverage, Silver State Health Exchanges suggests you call them at 855-768-5465...They say that they are working diligently with Governor Sandoval to come up with a plan for those that could be uninsured.

Nicole Crisano, PTNN. This weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

A lawyer for one of the country's largest manufacturers of prescription painkillers says the public has "no right of access" to the testimony of its former president about how the company marketed the dangerously addictive OxyContin...The Kentucky attorney general's office sued Purdue Pharma in 2007, accusing it of misleading the public about just how addictive the opioid-based painkiller really was. They said that helped fuel a wave of addiction in Appalachia and beyond that cost the state millions of dollars in health care costs...Former Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway settled the case in 2015 for $24 million with an agreement to keep some court documents hidden from public view. They included a deposition from Richard Sackler, a former Purdue Pharma president and member of the family that still controls the company. His testimony could offer important insights into how much the company knew about the drug's addictive qualities.