Category:

Five pharmaceutical companies said...they have filed a complaint in a Canadian court challenging the constitutionality of new Canadian regulations meant to lower patented drug prices, setting up a fight with the federal government ahead of an Oct. 21 election...The complaint was filed in Quebec’s Superior Court by the Canadian arms of U.S.-based Merck & Co and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Inc, Germany’s Bayer AG and Boehringer Ingelheim, and France’s Servier Inc...The filing ratchets up a confrontation between the pharmaceutical industry and the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which has vowed to make affordability a key plank of its election campaign...The new rules will save patients, employers, insurers and government drug plans money, at the expense of drug company profits in Canada...READ MORE

The state of Florida is partnering with the Military Health System to share prescription drug data to help providers in the state combat the risk of prescription drug misuse and abuse among the military population...the MHS prescription drug monitoring program began sharing the prescription drug data and analytics with 39 databases throughout the U.S., with the goal of enabling data-sharing among all 54 PDMPs across the country...Healthcare providers in Florida now have access to controlled substance prescription data from military health providers and facilities...READ MORE

The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services is threatening to levy roughly $20 million in fines on more than two dozen drug manufacturers that have yet to submit cost and profit reports to the state as required by a 2017 law aimed at better understanding the rising costs of treating diabetes...under Nevada law...companies can be assessed a fine of up to $5,000 a day for noncompliance. With 143 days since the manufacturer reports were due on April 1, each company that has yet to submit a report is facing a fine of up to $715,000...READ MORE

As the Oct. 31 deadline for Britain to leave the European Union approaches, health professionals are warning that shortages of some medicines could worsen in Europe in the event of a no-deal Brexit...Britain’s food and drink lobby warned last week that the country would experience shortages of some fresh foods if there is a disorderly no-deal Brexit. Pharmaceutical companies have expressed similar concerns about medicines, and some have reserved air freight capacity to fly in supplies if needed…But the impact on medical supplies will also be felt beyond Britain. About 45 million packs of medicines are shipped from Britain to the rest of the bloc every month...Experts say some disruption is inevitable if Britain leaves the EU without a deal. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will lead his country out of the EU...without a deal if the EU refuses to negotiate a new divorce agreement...READ MORE

Sen. Chuck Grassley...is demanding a full accounting from Novartis of its investigation into faulty data it submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in seeking approval for the gene therapy Zolgensma...Grassley seeks records from Novartis related to its internal inquiry into the data manipulation, as well as any tied to its decision to delay informing the FDA until after the agency had approved Zolgensma..."Such conduct is reprehensible and could have an adverse effect on patients,"...READ MORE

Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network

Endo International Plc and Allergan Plc have agreed to pay $15 million to avoid going to trial...in a landmark case by two Ohio counties accusing various drug manufacturers and distributors of fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic...The tentative deals...came ahead of the first trial to result from 2,000 lawsuits pending in federal court in Cleveland largely by local governments seeking to hold drug companies responsible for the deadly epidemic...The accords are the first to result from the counties’ cases, which were selected for the first bellwether, or test, trial in the litigation to allow parties to gauge the value of the remaining claims and inform potential settlement talks...READ MORE

...let’s follow the prescription dollar to expose how specialty pharmacies and covered entities profit from 340B prescriptions...You’ll see the indisputable prescription math that permits large specialty pharmacies to share in the 340B discounts that covered entities earn. These pharmacies’ profits can be $1,000 per prescription—far exceeding their typical profits from dispensing a third-party-paid prescription...No wonder PBMs and specialty pharmacies are racing to become 340B contract pharmacies!...READ MORE

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

Nicole Grassano, PTNN, Pharmacy Week in Review, this weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.