Pharma Companies Trying To Please Both Trump And Wall Street Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Bloomberg: Drug-Price Fight Squeezes Pharma Between Wall Street And Trump 
Washington wants drug prices to fall. Wall Street wants stock prices to rise. For some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, pleasing both sides could be a problem. Last year, the industry promised restraint after President Donald Trump took aim at rising pharmaceutical costs. On Jan. 1, drugmakers returned to their annual practice of regular increases, boosting prices for dozens of treatments, from hot-selling arthritis therapies to painkillers at the center of the U.S. opioid epidemic. (Spalding and Griffin, 1/3)

Stat: Payers Expect Drug Prices To Rise 3 To 5 Percent Annually Over Next Three Years 
President Trump may be expecting a tremendous drop in prescription drug prices, but more than two dozen payers think otherwise: They foresee their per-unit acquisition costs rising between 3 percent and 5 percent annually over the next three years, according to a new survey by Cowen analysts. Moreover, 13 percent of the payers attributed a substantial portion of those anticipated increases to more higher priced, newer medicines. By contrast, 40 percent of payers last year expected cost increases would be due to new therapies with high price tags. (Silverman, 1/3)

Kaiser Health News: Medicaid Patients In Puerto Rico Don’t Get Coverage For Drugs To Cure Hepatitis C
Drugs that can cure hepatitis C revolutionized care for millions of Americans living with the deadly liver infection. The drugs came with a steep price tag — one that prompted state Medicaid programs to initially limit access to the medications to only the sickest patients. That eased, however, in many states as new drugs were introduced and the prices declined. But not in Puerto Rico. Medicaid patients in the American territory get no coverage for these drugs. (Heredia Rodriguez, 1/4)

And the health industry gears up for next week’s annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference —

Stat: Will San Francisco's Issues Push People Away From J.P. Morgan? 
If you were to ask health-care and biotech executives where they want to be next week — where they truly want to be — they will not say San Francisco. Anywhere, they will say, but San Francisco. There’s the garbage and the human excrement on the sidewalks. There’s the mad dash to try find available accommodations. There’s the panhandling, evidence of the city’s handling of its worsening homelessness crisis. Oh, and there’s the $14,000 meeting cubicles and the coffee, available (this is true) for $170 per gallon. (Feuerstein, Robbins and Garde, 1/3)

Bloomberg: Here's What To Watch At The Year's Biggest Health Investor Event 
Investors, executives, analysts and traders will flock to San Francisco for the crown jewel of sell-side events at next week’s annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. The meeting runs Jan. 7 to Jan. 10 and often features preliminary earnings announcements, product updates and sometimes even a little dealmaking. Here’s a rundown of which stocks to watch for potential news. Presentations are divided into 30-minute blocks and are webcast. (Bailey Lipschultz, 1/3)

Stat: How Do CEO Presenters Rise Above A 'Sea Of Boring Sameness' At J.P. Morgan?
Mike Huckman is a global practice leader at the PR firm W20, and he’s experienced J.P. Morgan from both sides of the podium, first as a biopharma reporter at CNBC and now in his career advising drug companies on how not to be boring. That means he’s seen the industry’s addiction to jargon up close. Keeping in mind the many executives polishing up their J.P. Morgan speeches this week, STAT asked Huckman to share some tips on how to keep your audience’s eyes from rolling deep into their heads. (Robbins, Feuerstein and Garde, 1/4)