Analysis: Aduhelm Would Be Cost-Effective Only If Priced 90% Less

Stat: ICER Nudges Cost-Effective Price For Alzheimer's Drug To $3,000 To $8,400
The controversial new Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen (BIIB) would be cost-effective only if priced between $3,000 and $8,400, which represents an 85% to 95% discount off the $56,000 list price, due to “insufficient” evidence the drug benefits patients, according to a revised analysis. The assessment is very similar to an evaluation that was issued last month, before the Food and Drug Administration approved the medicine and issued a broad label. This means the medication can be prescribed to potentially millions of patients, regardless of the extent of their disease, even though Biogen tested its drug only on people with mild cognitive impairment to mild Alzheimer’s. (Silverman, 6/30)

Stat: Calls Grow For An Investigation Into FDA Approval Of New Alzheimer’s Drug
Former health secretary Donna Shalala called for a federal investigation into the Food and Drug Administration’s polarizing approval of a Biogen treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, citing STAT’s revelation Tuesday that regulators were far more closely aligned with the company than previously disclosed. “When you see a report like this, you have to investigate it,” said Shalala, a former member of Congress who led the Department of Health and Human Services under President Clinton. “You cannot hesitate and you can’t do it with your general counsel. You’ve got to send in the Office of Inspector General. I mean, you shouldn’t hesitate for one second.” (Garde and Florko, 6/30)

In other news about the high cost of drugs —

Axios: Walmart Rolls Out Cash-Pay Novo Nordisk Insulin 
Walmart is now selling rapid-acting insulins, made by drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk, for cash prices of $73 per vial and $86 for a box of five pre-filled syringes. Walmart is attempting to retain and attract more diabetes patients to its stores by offering a more modern insulin at a lower cash price. Novo Nordisk is trying to keep its insulin market share. But this deal doesn't ensure an affordable price for patients and the broader public. (Herman, 6/30)

Bloomberg: Generic Drug Prices For Patients Vary By $50 A Pill Among US Hospitals
Costs for common generic drugs can vary among hospitals by more than $50 a pill, a study has found, with some health centers ignoring federal regulations designed to make pricing information easily accessible to patients. GoodRx Holdings Inc., a digital healthcare platform, compared prices for 12 generic drugs at 16 hospitals. Some charged a nearly 6,000% markup on average compared with the pharmacy price for the same drug. Zoloft, used for depression and anxiety, costs $57 a pill at a Las Vegas hospital but just 50 cents a pill at a Tennessee hospital. (Torrence, 6/30)

Axios: Top Patient Advocacy Groups Take Millions From Drug Companies 
Some of the most recognizable names in patient advocacy take millions from drug companies every year, and many fail to fully disclose those relationships, a new analysis by Patients for Affordable Drugs found. While some of these groups do important work representing patients, others are actually "tools" of the pharmaceutical industry. Either way, many "appear unable or unwilling to take positions on consumer issues such as lowering prescription drug prices that might anger their drug corporation funders," PAD authors write. (Reed, 6/30)

Health News Florida: States Step Up Push To Regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers 
Under pressure to rein in skyrocketing prescription drug costs, states are targeting companies that serve as conduits for drug manufacturers, health insurers and pharmacies. More than 100 separate bills regulating those companies, known as pharmacy benefit managers, have been introduced in 42 states this year, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy, which crafts model legislation on the topic. The flood of bills comes after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling late last year backed Arkansas’ right to enforce rules on the companies. At least 12 of the states have adopted new oversight laws. But it’s not yet clear how much money consumers will save immediately, if at all. (Houghton, 6/30)

KHN: How One Rural Town Without A Pharmacy Is Crowdsourcing To Get Meds
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 hourlong 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. (Hawryluk, 7/1)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Mallinckrodt Clear To Make Deal For Rare Disease Drug; Parents Worry On Access
A federal bankruptcy court judge has approved the sale of a rare disease drug to a startup company backed by venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a notable step in one of the latest dramas over access to experimental medicines. At issue is adrabetadex, which Mallinckrodt (MNKKQ) was studying to combat Niemann-Pick type C, or NPC, a rare progressive genetic disorder that mainly affects children. But the company ended clinical testing earlier this year after studies indicated the drug had no benefit. That was a devastating decision for families because there is currently no treatment for NPC approved for use in the U.S. (Silverman, 6/30)

Stat: Gene Therapy To Aid Recovery After A Heart Attack Passes A Key Test 
By delivering a viral payload of gene silencers directly to the heart, scientists have developed a new strategy for regenerating cardiac muscle after damage from a heart attack. Described in a paper published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, the approach led to new cell growth and improved heart function in pigs. The findings, though preliminary, indicate it’s possible to prod cardiac muscle cells into regenerating, at least long enough to stave off some of the worst after-effects of a heart attack. If the gene therapy bears out as safe and effective in further testing, it might someday be used to address the root cause of heart failure — one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. (Molteni, 6/30)

CNBC: How CRISPR Gene Editing Will Treat Disease: Intellia Founder Doudna
Gene-editing technology CRISPR reached a major milestone this past weekend, completing its first systemic delivery as a medicine to a human body. CRISPR, or clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, effectively cuts genomes and slices DNA to treat genetic diseases. The latest breakthrough, the result of a trial between biotech company Regeneron and Boston-based startup Intellia Therapeutics, treated a rare disease after being given as an IV infusion. (Thomas, 6/30)