- Can You Guess Which Big Pharma Has Raised Its Drug Prices 5 Times Since June 2014? (fool.com)
This is probably far from breaking news -- or in any way shocking -- but prescription drug prices are soaring...According to an analysis conducted by healthcare data company Truveris...prescription drug inflation topped 10% in 2015, spearheaded by an average price increase in branded pharmaceuticals of 14.77%...But what if I told you that a well-known Big Pharma has been regularly hiking drug prices in plain view and no one seems to be taking notice? In fact, this drug giant has increased its list prices...five times since June 2014. This company's average list price increases are as follows:
- June 2014: an average increase of 7.4%
- January 2015: an average increase of 8.8%
- June 2015: an average increase of 8.5%
- January 2016: an average increase of 10.4%
- June 2016: an average increase of 8.8%
...this works out to a cumulative increase over a two-year span of approximately 52% in list prices...Can you name this pharma giant?
- Merck’s Keytruda to make its China debut as a resort-island draw for medical tourists (fiercepharma.com)
Merck & Co.’s cancer treatment Keytruda could become a national tourist attraction in China, with a special approval for imports to the resort island of Hainan...Immuno-oncology stalwart Keytruda will be available at the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, designed to attract travelers for new treatments...Specifics on pricing and approved indications weren’t covered in the announcement, but it did say officials are considering other drugs for the program...The medical-tourism nod comes as BMS continues to navigate the tough approval process in China with its growing blockbuster med Opdivo--and Keytruda itself awaits regulatory approval for the rest of the country...the Hainan program will open up new treatments--including Keytruda--to affluent Chinese residents who can afford the travel and medical costs, while other patients will have to wait for regulators to approve them.
- Drugmakers agree to clean up plants, take other steps to fight antibiotic resistance (fiercepharma.com)Industry Roadmap for Progress on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance – September 2016 (ifpma.org)
More than a dozen pharmaceutical companies from Big Pharma players to CMOs have agreed to take steps to fight antibiotic resistance, including reviewing their manufacturing and supply chains and working on standards for cleaning up antibiotic waste discharge...The agreement was announced this week as part of a United Nations meeting...where antibiotic resistance was said to be one of the pressing issues facing the world. It is a pharma specific follow-up to the broader Davos Declaration signed by about 100 companies during meetings early this year...Three other steps the 13 drug companies agreed to take are to help ensure antibiotics are used only by patients who need them; to improve access to current and future antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics while working to reduce the prevalence of substandard and counterfeit antibiotics in high-risk markets; and to look for places to cooperate in developing new antibiotics…Though the commitment may be there, history has shown this to be a tough issue with which to deal...
- Survey: 97% plan to use digital health tech in trials over next five years (outsourcing-pharma.com)
According to survey results, published by Validic, more than 60% have used digital health technologies in clinical trials, and more than 97% plan to use such tools more over the next five years…Validic director of marketing told us...Medication adherence has always been a top priority for pharma, which is not surprising given the close correlation between participants’ compliance and the ability to get a drug to market faster and more cost effectively...Given advancements in technology, remotely tracking and monitoring prescription compliance has not only become a reality, but also an increased priority for pharma...As more evidence is available and sponsors continue to realize real-time, objective adherence data enables adaptive trial design and the ability to confidently make adjustments to protocols, we expect to see the interest in adherence technologies continue to rise…mobile applications have been a popular “entry point” for companies looking to being using digital health, “but we’re expecting to see greater use of wearables and sensors in the near-term...the respondents are most interested in reducing trial costs, while also being able to effectively demonstrate a drug’s efficacy in the real world...
- Senator urges FTC to step up investigation into maker of addiction treatment (statnews.com)
A US senator is urging the US Federal Trade Commission to accelerate its antitrust investigation into a drug maker that sells Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone), a medicine used to treat addiction to opioids and narcotics...The appeal by Senator Edward Markey comes less than a week after 35 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Indivior (Reckitt Benckiser), accusing the company of engaging in a scheme to block generic competition. In doing so, the company "drove up prices and deprived states and consumers of lower costs," Markey wrote in his letter on Tuesday to FTC…Reckitt raised the price of its pill while lowering the price of the newer film version. And the patent on the new version does not expire until 2023. This is a pharmaceutical industry tactic known as forced switching, since patients and physicians have little choice but to consider a newer, higher-priced version...Markey also pointed out that the manufacturer has "significantly impeded the FTC investigation by attempting to deny the FTC access to thousands of pages of documents that are integral to the investigation." However, he also noted that the federal court overseeing the matter later ordered the company to produce the documents...So will the FTC step on the gas?
- Cancer patients may be overly optimistic about early drug trial participation (reuters.com)
People with cancer may overestimate the possible benefits to them of participating in an early trial of a new medicine, even after talking with a doctor about what to expect, according to a new study from the U.K...So-called phase 1 trials of experimental treatments are intended to test the drug's safety. Just 4 percent to 20 percent of participants may see their cancer respond to the drug…But among cancer patients surveyed while they were considering taking part in an early drug trial, between 40 percent and 50 percent of patients thought their tumors would shrink. That was true both before and after talking with doctors, researchers found...These expectations don't correspond to what cancer patients typically experience during those early cancer trials...A lot of people would say patients are misinformed, and I think a lot of it is patients don’t want to lose hope...
- This Week in Managed Care: September 24, 2016 (ajmc.com)
Justin Gallagher, associate publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care, From the Managed Markets News Network.
- Diabetes drugs are badly needed, but rarely make it to market (statnews.com)
Diabetes may be a widespread disease for which millions of people need treatment, but a new analysis finds that developing new medicines has been a risky proposition for drug developers...How so? Here are a few key findings:
- Only 1 in 13 investigational diabetes drugs that entered clinical testing from 1995 to 2007 ultimately received regulatory approval, compared with 1 in 8 for all investigational drugs…
- The likelihood that a diabetes drug entering clinical testing would make it to late-stage testing was about 13 percent...
- the most important challenge for drug makers...continues to be the regulatory approval process, which has grown more demanding in the wake of a controversy in 2008 over the heart risks of a widely used diabetes drug.
- so-called first-in-class approvals for diabetes — which refers to new types of medicines — represented almost 30 percent of all FDA approvals.
- of all new diabetes drugs that were approved by the FDA from 1995 to 2015, 15 percent received a so-called priority review designation...
- The 61 diabetes and other endocrine drugs approved from 1995 to 2015 accounted for 10 percent of all new medicines approved by the FDA during that time...
- Faster registration, more transparency punctuate new HHS clinical trial final rule (medcitynews.com)
The Department of Health and Human Services issued its final rule on submitting registration and summary results to clinicaltrials.gov. In a nutshell, the new guidelines define which clinical trials must be registered and when, how results should be reported (and when) and potential penalties for non-compliance...The rule seeks to clarify the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, which left significant room for interpretation...Enhancing access to clinical trial information means more useful data for patients and scientists. People who have exhausted their treatment options may have more access to experimental therapies. Scientists can build on trial success and avoid failures...Overall, the rule is getting good reviews for its effort to increase transparency and respond to systemic flaws...It reflects that we have this learning healthcare system, which is what we want...We want laws that learn, that take feedback and are able to understand what is working and what is not working and be amended in order to work better...
- Brazil pharmacy Raia Drogasil focused on new stores not M&A: CEO (reuters.com)
Raia Drogasil SA, Brazil's biggest drugstore chain, will sit out expected consolidation of the national market, the company's chief executive said in an interview, because its own rapidly expanding network is proving increasingly efficient...There has been no lack of buyers and sellers in the market. CVS Health Corp entered Brazil with an acquisition in 2013 and...rival Brasil Pharma SA is close to selling two units..."Our growth is organic,"..."Our aim is to consolidate the market opening stores."…Raia Drogasil has done that at an accelerating pace. In July, the company announced plans to open 200 new stores both this year and next…The company had 1,330 stores in Brazil at the end of June...Encouraged by the healthy growth and solid results despite an economic recession in Brazil, investors sent Raia Drogasil shares soaring more than 90 percent this year...