A Look At How U.S.-Canada-Mexico Trade Deal Could Affect Drug Prices

Stat: U.S.-Canada-Mexico Trade Deal Draws Fire On Drug Prices 
The new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico is prompting concerns among generic drug makers and consumer advocates who argue language that is designed to bolster intellectual property rights for medicines will hurt taxpayers and patients. At issue is a provision that would grant 10 years of marketing exclusivity for biologics, which are pricey medicines used to combat a wide variety of diseases, including many cancers. The language means that a company that wants to sell a lower-cost version of a brand-name biologic, which is known as a biosimilar, would be prevented from doing so for a decade. (Silverman, 10/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Patients In Canada, Mexico Could Face Longer Wait For Some Generic Drugs
The proposed new North American trade agreement could make patients and health systems in Mexico and Canada wait years longer for lower-cost copies of certain brand-name medicines. The deal would extend to 10 years the minimum “data-protection” period for biologic drugs, a category which includes some of the costliest drugs on the market. A data-protection period essentially gives a new drug a monopoly for some time before rival firms can market copies. (Loftus, 10/1)

Marketplace: Why Some People Are Worried About Drug Patent Protections In The New NAFTA
The new NAFTA — or as it's officially known, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement — is already raising some complaints from north of the border. Canadians are worried their drug prices will go up. That's because one piece of the deal gives years of extended patent protection to high-end, expensive drugs known as biologics. That means the trade deal could delay the time it takes for cheaper generics to get to market. (Tong, 10/2)

Stat: Pharma Tries To Cash In On Migraine Market By Making New Drugs Free, For Now
With approval of a new migraine therapy, Eli Lilly has become the third drug company angling for dominance in what could become a multibillion-dollar market for preventing debilitating headaches. But because none of the three medicines is clearly better than another, the contenders are taking a novel approach to competition: giving drugs away for free. Lilly’s treatment, called Emgality, is an injected medicine that has proved to reduce the number of migraine days patients experience each month. Doctors say its effects are virtually identical to recently approved treatments from Teva Pharmaceutical and the partnership of Amgen and Novartis, and all three drugs carry a list price of $6,900 per year. (Garde, 9/28)

The New York Times: Pfizer’s Departing C.E.O. Will Be Known For The Deals He Didn’t Complete
Ian Read is stepping down after eight years as chief executive of Pfizer. During his tenure, Mr. Read helped reshape one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. Through deal making, he focused the company on its core business like vaccines and other specialized treatments. He acquired companies like Hospira, a maker of complicated generic versions of biotech treatments, and spun off divisions, such as an animal health business that is now the separately traded Zoetis. (de la Merced, 10/1)

Stat: FDA To Block Drug Makers From Using Citizen Petitions To Delay Generics 
After years of concern, the Food and Drug Administration issued draft guidelines that are designed to limit the use of citizen petitions to delay approval of generic drugs or biosimilars. The move comes after long-standing complaints by agency officials that many petitions generally do not raise valid scientific concerns and appear to have been filed solely to delay rival medicines. The new guidance indicates that the agency would highlight any improper use of these petitions in its annual reports filed with to Congress and may refer purportedly inappropriate petitions to the Federal Trade Commission, which could then pursue violations of antitrust laws. (Silverman, 10/2)

Stat: Pay-For-Delay Deals For Biosimilars May Be Hard To Pull Off Under A New Bill 
A little-noticed provision in a bill recently passed by Congress would make it harder for drug makers to strike so-called pay-to-delay deals that could prevent biosimilar medicines from reaching the market and lowering U.S. health care costs. Tucked into the Patient Right to Know Act is language that would require companies that make biologics and biosimilar medicines to report settlements of patent litigation to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. This would allow the agencies to have the same kind of information resulting from settlements pertaining to generic drugs. (Silverman, 9/27)

Kaiser Health News: Drugmakers Play The Patent Game To Lock In Prices, Block Competitors
David Herzberg was alarmed when he heard that Richard Sackler, former chairman of opioid giant Purdue Pharma, was listed as an inventor on a new patent for an opioid addiction treatment. Patent No. 9861628 is for a fast-dissolving wafer containing buprenorphine, a generic drug that has been around since the 1970s. Herzberg, a historian who focuses on the opioid epidemic and the history of prescription drugs, said he fears the patent could keep prices high and make it more difficult for poor addicts to get treatment. (Tribble, 10/2)

The Associated Press: House Candidate Runs Across Ohio To Fight Rising Drug Costs
Democrat John Kennedy is running for the Ohio House. In more ways than one. The candidate set out from his northeast Ohio hometown of Aurora on Friday for a two-day, 142-mile run to the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Kennedy, a 52-year-old ultra-marathoner who has type 1 diabetes, said he’s using the run — and 14 stops along the way — to bring attention to the rising costs of insulin and other prescription drugs. (Smyth, 9/29)

Chicago Tribune: Court Rules Against Lake Forest Drugmaker Akorn's $4.75 Billion Merger With German Firm
Shares of Akorn dove by more than 50 percent Monday after a Delaware judge ruled that a German health care company may walk away from its plans to acquire the drugmaker in a deal worth $4.75 billion. A Delaware Chancery Court judge sided Monday with Fresenius Kabi, which announced in April that it would terminate its agreement to acquire Akorn, headquartered in Lake Forest. (Schencker, 10/1)

South Florida Sun Sentinel: Slashing Drug Costs: Scripps Florida Scientists Wins $4 Million Grant For Cost-Cutting Program
What good is an effective drug if patients can’t afford it? It’s a question that’s disturbing to many in the medical field. Now, a Scripps Florida scientist in Jupiter is trying to do something about it. Thomas Kodadek, a chemist, hopes to slash the high price of drug development with the help of a new grant that’s worth $4 million over five years. The award was one of 10 made recently by Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. (Pounds, 10/2)

Capital News Service: Grassroots Group Urges Candidates To Support Drug-Cost Board
A coalition of progressive health advocates last week called on all candidates for governor and the Maryland General Assembly to support their proposal to create a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. The announcement came just a day after Ben Jealous, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, showed his support for the campaign and announced his own plan to reduce drug prices. Both proposals essentially look to create a watchdog to oversee prescription drug prices and ensure there are no surprise price increases. (Cann, 9/29)