- UK vows to speed up drug review in return for 2% sales cap (in-pharmatechnologist.com)
UK government and ABPI have agreed a deal to limit branded drug sales growth to 2%, potentially reducing the cost of medicine by £930m ($1.18b)...The announcement was made after the UK government and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry provisionally signed the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access...the two key details released are: branded medicines will be subject to a 2% cap on sales growth – with pharma companies repaying the NHS for sales over this limit – and appraisals of new technology applications by NICE will be completed up to six months faster than current timelines...
- November 23 Pharmacy Week in Review: FDA Approves Rifamycin for Travelers-related Illness, Study Finds Incidence of Eczema is Much Higher Than Other Inflammatory Conditions (pharmacytimes.com)
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.
- This Week in Managed Care: November 9, 2018 (ajmc.com)
Samantha DiGrande, Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- 5 election takeaways for pharma (biopharmadive.com)Health care wins and stocks rally as Democrats take control of the US House (cnbc.com)
Democrats won back the House of Representatives in Tuesday's midterm elections, wresting control from Republicans in an outcome that will shape the next two years of Donald Trump's presidency...In congressional campaigns across the country, healthcare emerged as a key issue, with pre-existing conditions and rising prescription drug costs among the most prominently highlighted...there are several outcomes that look clear for drugmakers. Here are five:
- More scrutiny on drug pricing
- But not necessarily major disruption
- Continued action in the states
- Medicaid expansions to add to insured population
- Business as usual at the FDA
- Florida’s opioid lawsuit against CVS and Walgreens takes aim at distributors with deep pockets (cnbc.com)
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has added Walgreens and CVS Health as defendants in the state's massive lawsuit against the opioid industry...Legal analysts say Florida and other plaintiffs are targeting the distributors and pharmacies, in part, because they have deep pockets...The...lawsuit accuses the drug stores and pharmaceutical distributors like Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen and McKesson of playing as big a role in the proliferation of opioid addiction as drug manufacturers like...Purdue Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceuticals...
- Walgreens, Humana in talks to take stakes in each other: WSJ (reuters.com)Walgreens, Humana Are in Preliminary Talks to Take Stakes in Each Other (wsj.com)
...Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and health insurer Humana Inc are in preliminary discussions to take equity stakes in each other...Humana said it would partner with Walgreens, with its unit operating senior-focused primary care clinics inside two Walgreens stores in Kansas...The companies are discussing the possibility of expanding that venture, among other options...
- November 9 Pharmacy Week in Review: Study Findings Support CDC Recommendations for Annual Flu Vaccine Among Children (pharmacytimes.com)
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.
- This Week in Managed Care: November 23, 2018 (ajmc.com)
Laura Joszt, Managing Editor at The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- Pfizer to raise prices on 41 prescription drugs next year despite pressure from Trump (cnbc.com)
Pfizer will raise prices on 41 of its prescription drugs in January after initially putting off those plans this summer amid pressure from President Trump...The drug giant will increase the list price of about 10 percent of its drugs...Most of the increases will be 5 percent…"We believe the best means to address affordability of medicines is to reduce the growing out-of-pocket costs that consumers are facing due to high deductibles and co-insurance, and ensure that patients receive the benefit of rebates at the pharmacy counter," Pfizer's outgoing CEO Ian Read said in a statement...
- Insulin drugmakers under scrutiny for pricing, patent practices (biopharmadive.com)
Insulin drugmakers face new criticism for their pricing and use of patents on diabetes treatments, as two reports...shined a light on the pharma companies' business practices...Congressional Diabetes Caucus co-chairs attacked the current system as "unfairly putting insulin out of reach, placing millions of lives at risk." Their report makes 11 policy recommendations for Congress, ranging from encouraging value-based contracts to requiring more disclosure on rebates and list prices to addressing patent extensions...The Initiative for Medicine, Access and Knowledge...unveiled an analysis of the patents protecting Sanofi's top-selling diabetes treatment Lantus, finding nearly all of patent applications for the drug were filed by the French pharma after it was approved...These have extended Lantus' patent protection to 2031…