- A Video History of Pharmacies and Prescription Prices: From Soda Fountains to GoodRx (drugchannels.net)
...“Why Pharmacies Overcharge,” an entertaining and provocative video on the pharmacy industry and its generic prescription pricing...It’s definitely worth your time...The video covers the history of pharmacy, from the “Soda Fountain Era” to “Lick, Stick, and Pour” to the rise of PBMs and GoodRx...READ MORE
- Pfizer, Moderna and Alnylam flag pharma labor shortage in Massachusetts—and the people bottleneck doesn’t stop there (fiercepharma.com)
Raw materials and limits on high-tech equipment often take center stage when it comes to discussions around manufacturing bottlenecks. But the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed another weak link in the pharmaceutical supply chain: people...As COVID-19 vaccine production moves full-tilt, mRNA players Pfizer and Moderna are having trouble recruiting talent...Hiring challenges, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, aren’t unique to COVID-19 vaccine makers...READ MORE
- Activist Investors Seek to Steer Control of Phoenixus Away from Jailed “Pharma Bro” (biospace.com)
Although Martin Shkreli has been behind bars for years due to a conviction for investment fraud, the man known as “Pharma Bro” has remained active running the former Turing Pharmaceuticals from his jail cell. However, that could change if some activist investors...have their way...Turing is the company that gained infamy after acquiring the decades-old toxoplasmosis drug Daraprim and raising the price by 5,000%. When Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired Daraprim, the cost of a single pill was about $13.50. Turing increased the price to $750 per tablet, which drastically raises the cost of treatment for patients...READ MORE
- How one rural town without a pharmacy is crowdsourcing to get meds (modernhealthcare.com)Association Between Pharmacy Closures and Adherence to Cardiovascular Medications Among Older US Adults (jamanetwork.com)
The building that once housed the last drugstore in this town of fewer than 600 is now a barbecue restaurant, where pit boss Larry Holtman dishes out smoked brisket and pulled pork across the same counter where pharmacists dispensed vital medications more than 30 years ago...It’s an hour long drive over treacherous mountain passes to Laramie, Wyoming, or Granby or Steamboat Springs, Colorado — and the nearest pharmacies. The routes out of the valley in which Walden lies are regularly closed by heavy winter snows, keeping residents in and medications out...Walden has suffered the fate of many small towns across the United States, as the economics of the pharmacy business have made it difficult for community drugstores to survive...With no local access to prescription drugs, the town of mainly cattle ranchers and hay farmers has crowdsourced a delivery system, taking advantage of anyone’s trip to those bigger cities to pick up medications for the rest of the town...READ MORE
- Who’s getting the most out of their R&D engine? Pharma’s top 11, ranked (fiercepharma.com)
Drugmakers have myriad tools in their arsenal when looking to grow sales. They can acquire marketed drugs, raise prices or focus on growing the reach of their existing medicines. But it's often new drug approvals that reign supreme and ultimately prove the worth of a company's development engine...covered in a recent Evaluate Vantage report, the team at Fierce Pharma took a close look at the recent approvals for 11 of the world's biggest drugmakers by revenue. Specifically, we're highlighting the dollar value of the industry's launches from the last five years and analyzing how the new meds fit into each company's overall portfolio...READ MORE
- Study: Drug utilization costs health industry $93B a year, with patients bearing most of the cost (fiercehealthcare.com)Quantifying The Economic Burden Of Drug Utilization Management On Payers, Manufacturers, Physicians, And Patients (healthaffairs.org)
Drug utilization management such as prior authorization and stricter formularies cost the healthcare industry $93 billion annually, with patients bearing the largest share of the cost, a new study found...The study...found that intense use of drug utilization measures has led to patients spending $35.8 billion a year in cost-sharing...“All stakeholders in the U.S. pharmaceutical system would benefit from a de-escalation of utilization management, combining lower drug prices with lower barriers of patient access,”...READ MORE
- Study: Medicare spent billions more on generics than Costco due to distribution inefficiency (fiercehealthcare.com)
Medicare Part D spent $2.6 billion more in 2018 on generic drugs compared to Costco, likely due to the inefficient distribution system...The study published...in the Journal of the American Medical Association focuses on how intermediaries in the generic drug supply chain may be driving up costs for Medicare. In 2018, 88% of Medicare Part D prescriptions were for generic drugs, the study said...“Our analysis highlighted the inefficiencies the current system introduces through its complex and opaque system of intermediaries, which Costco largely bypasses,”...READ MORE
- Pfizer, BioNTech score FDA’s first full COVID-19 vaccine nod, quickly triggering stricter mandates (fiercepharma.com)
The U.S. FDA has awarded the first full approval for a COVID-19 vaccine to Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, a historic decision that comes weeks ahead of its previously expected Labor Day deadline...Pfizer’s jab, now approved for people aged 16 and older, will remain under an emergency nod for adolescents aged 12 to 15...The agency’s full approval for Pfizer’s mRNA shot, now marketed as Comirnaty, is expected to spark a wave of vaccine mandates from companies, universities and organizations awaiting the agency’s final sign-off...READ MORE
- Senate takes aim at pharma’s patent schemes, pay-for-delay deals in renewed drug pricing crackdown (fiercepharma.com)
...groups lobbying for lower prescription drug prices called on Congress to enact long-awaited reforms and stressed the urgency of the movement...Answering the call...the Senate Judiciary Committee, which voted unanimously to advance four pieces of legislation which would help rein in the cost of prescription drugs...The new laws take particular aim at the tactics used by drug companies to extend patent protections and stifle competition from cheaper generic and biosimilar drugs. The legislation, which would enhance the Federal Trade Commission's ability to initiate enforcement actions against drug companies, now moves to the Senate floor for a vote...READ MORE
- Pfizer victory in Vyndaqel copay lawsuit could kneecap the government’s only control on prices, lawyer warns (fiercepharma.com)
After coughing up nearly $24 million in a federal settlement over donations to patient charities, Pfizer went on the offensive last summer and took the U.S.' anti-kickback policies to task. Late last month, the drug giant got its day in court...The company, angling to help Medicare patients pay for its costly heart drugs Vyndaqel and Vyndamax, recently challenged U.S. copay and kickback policies in New York federal court...a Pfizer win...could spur drug pricing fallout across the industry...Pfizer last June sued HHS in a bid to assist patients with their Medicare copays for two costly new medicines. U.S. kickback laws currently forbid drugmakers from helping patients with those costs...Pfizer is battling for the go-ahead on two programs. The first would allow the company to offer copay support directly to Medicare patients on its tafamidis meds Vyndaqel and Vyndamax, which run for $225,000 a year before rebates. The second would allow it to fund an independent charity to help with copays...READ MORE