News Archive

September 6, 2023 - Real Endpoints

Sep 6, 2023

As pharmaceutical companies bemoan Medicare’s drug negotiations, hospitals and doctors stay mum

Today's must-read story post the announcement of the first 10 drugs to face drug price negotiation is from the team at STAT. It is a reminder that when it comes to what to do about rising healthcare costs, hospitals and doctors aren't necessarily in favor of price caps either.

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Sep 6, 2023

Cost Curve

Brian Reid lays out another essential daily dozen #IRA related news stories in today's newsletter. If you are interested in drug policy and reimbursement or how to communicate product value, do yourself a favor and subscribe to Cost Curve.

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Sep 6, 2023

HHS Selects the First Drugs for Medicare Drug Price Negotiation

Wall Street's muted response after HHS released the long await list of ten Part D drugs slated for price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act. While there were some surprises (e.g., Farxiga, Stelara, and Entresto), analysts clearly believe the news will NOT have that much financial impact on drugmakers. (Leerink called the announcement “immaterial” in a note to investors.)

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Sep 6, 2023

CVS: Next Level Vertical Integration

Our co-founder and chairman has some thoughts on recent moves by CVS Health.

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Sep 6, 2023

CVS Health Launches Company To Produce Cheaper ‘Biosimilar’ Versions Of Expensive Biotech Drugs

One week after Blue Shield of CA's announced it was dropping CVS CareMark as its overall PBM and contracting with new vendors such as Amazon and Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, PBC, comes this: CVS Health is forming a new subsidiary Cordavis to work with drugmakers to produce and commercialize biosimilars. The first partnership on the docket: a tie-up with Sandoz for its Humira #biosimilar #Hyrimoz

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Sep 6, 2023

2024 Large Employer Health Care Strategy Survey

For many #lifesciences companies, employers are a black box. These survey findings from Business Group on Health help elucidate some of the top priorities of a key #stakeholder in the healthcare #ecosystem.

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Sep 6, 2023

Blue Shield of CA unveils first-of-its-kind model to transform prescription drug care; save up to $500 million on medications annually

Just when you thought it was a time for a summer news slowdown, Blue Shield CA lays down the gauntlet. Aiming to reimagine pharmacy services, the payer is completely rethinking its drug supply chain - and the vendors who provide the services moving from the integrated model to a something more decentralized where Blue Shield retains control.

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Sep 6, 2023

Follow-On Indications for Orphan Drugs Related to the Inflation Reduction Act

Peter Neumann and the team at Tufts analyze IRA's impact on the development of drugs for rare diseases and what's now known as the "single orphan conundrum." Their take: "Our analysis suggests that the potential foregone follow-on indication approvals for serious illness and unmet needs could be nontrivial."

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Sep 6, 2023

From drug shortages to high prices, U.S. system’s shortcomings have deep roots

Important read from Matthew Herper at STAT that reminds readers of the shortcomings of our drug pricing system (and an amazing zen koan analogy). As our CEO Jeff Berkowitz likes to say, so many of us who work in market access "have been scarred by the disconnects in the US healthcare system."

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