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While Gilead has yet to present a marketing plan for the first coronavirus treatment to have shown clinical benefits in a well-designed randomized study, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)—which routinely weighs in on drug costs—says the drug is cost-effective at $4,460 per course of treatment...Even at $1,000 per patient, less than a quarter of ICER's fair price, Gilead could rake in $1 billion in sales this year...The company’s now bolstering supply with the aim to treat 1 million patients by the end of the year...For now, Gilead is donating remdesivir to the U.S. government for allocation, and it's pledged to continue giving doses away until its current supply chain is exhausted...Drugmakers aren’t obligated to follow ICER’s pricing limits, and they often find themselves at odds with each other...READ MORE

As global demand intensifies for an old malaria drug that some believe can combat Covid-19, a distributor that supplies the key active pharmaceutical ingredient to compound pharmacies in the U.S. has raised prices by huge amounts over the past week...Spectrum Chemical boosted the wholesale price for a 100-gram container of hydroxychloroquine sulfate by about 350%, to approximately $1,160, while a 1,000-gram container jumped 230% to $5,932. And the price for a 5,000 gram container roughly tripled to almost $30,000...Spectrum explained the sudden clamor for the drug has made it more difficult to obtain the active ingredient, sometimes causing its own suppliers to ship partially filled orders or cancel them outright...READ MORE

Is the pharma industry hiking up drug prices to boost profitability at the expense of hardworking Americans? That question—a favorite of politicians on both sides of the aisle—is at the heart of a special issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, which features a collection of articles that aim to provide a well-rounded answer...Perhaps the most damning of the studies compares the profits of the 35 biggest pharmaceutical companies to the S&P 500 as a whole. The study...found that between 2000 and 2018 the median annual gross profit margin of Big Pharma was 76.5%, versus just 37.4% for the S&P 500 companies. Earnings before taxes and net income margins were also significantly higher among pharma companies, the authors reported...Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier had his own set of worries about the new JAMA studies, though he was more focused on fairness—or lack thereof...READ MORE

Nearly 90% of community pharmacies will apply for small business federal aid under the CARES Act to help them get through the coronavirus storm, according to a new survey...by the National Community Pharmacists Association...“Pharmacies are ‘essential businesses’ staying open during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep serving their communities, but many are on the brink at the very time they are needed most,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey. “In the 18 months before this crisis, the number of pharmacies had shrunk by over 2,000, mostly due to low reimbursement from pharmacy benefit managers...As the pandemic strains neighborhood pharmacies, nearly half of pharmacy owners rank the overall financial health of their business as somewhat poor or very poor, according to the survey...READ MORE

Pharma’s pursuit of innovative oncology drugs has hit a fever pitch like the industry has never felt. On the heels of a treatment revolution that has fundamentally changed how we understand, fight and, in some cases, can cure cancer, pharma is mobilizing at a dazzling speed to develop the next holy grail in oncology...The current generation of cancer treatments is also still stymied by a number of challenges including manufacturing issues, limited therapeutic benefits for many patients and sky-high prices that have drawn public ire...All told, oncology has become a segment of the industry that is both bursting at the seams and begging for further innovations. Recognizing the potential to help both patients and business, pharma has become obsessed with oncology...READ MORE

Some drugmakers work for years to take one of their meds from launch to blockbuster status––a journey defined by competition, the market, branding and a dash of luck. But even for pharma's biggest whales, growth-minded executives have a question: What have you done for me lately?...we here at FiercePharma have compiled a list of top 10 drugs by estimated sales increase in 2020––a group comprising some of the most successful launches in recent years, with a few surprises thrown in as well...READ MORE
1. Keytruda
2. Biktarvy
3. Revlimid
4. Eliquis
5. Ozempic
6. Dupixent
7. Tagrisso
8. Imbruvica
9. Ocrevus
10. Stelara

The specter of global drug shortages looms large amid the coronavirus pandemic. But so far, the supply chain is holding steady and prices are going up—in the generic drug business, at least. One analyst, in fact, figures COVID-19 could turn out to be a profitable time for the generics industry...After some "initial shocks" from COVID-19, the global generic drug supply chain is likely to rebound and deliver strong growth numbers despite some potential "spot shortages,"...A potent mixture of patient and channel stockpiling and manufacturer "allocation" measures will drive generics pricing upward in the short term...READ MORE