Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Anemic Earnings Reports Show The Bell Has Tolled For Pharma's Price-Hiking Strategies
Stat: Backlash Over High Prices Hits Pharma's Bottom Line
The simmering public outrage over drug prices finally seems to be catching up to the pharmaceutical industry. Earnings reports in recent days have laid out a grim picture of slumping sales and anemic growth projections at several large drug makers and wholesalers. Executives blame many factors — including heavy competition and hardball tactics from insurers — but analysts say the bottom line is crystal clear: Pharma can no longer count on steadily hiking drug prices. That realization has sent some drug stocks on a roller coaster. It’s also battering the middlemen in the prescription supply chain, who have made their money by taking a cut of ever-rising prices. (Keshavan, 11/3)
In case you missed it: check out our weekly feature, Prescription Drug Watch, which includes coverage and perspectives about high drug prices.
In other news from the pharmaceutical industry —
Stat: Antibiotic Maker's Stock Sinks After FDA Notes Safety Signal
After regulators on Wednesday released a gloomy assessment of an experimental antibiotic developed by Cempra to combat community-acquired pneumonia, its stock sank as much as 58 percent. That’s because of a safety signal that was seen in another antibiotic called Ketek, which was linked to fatal liver problems years ago and later engulfed the US Food and Drug Administration in scandal. In documents disclosed in advance of an expert panel meeting that will be held on Friday, FDA staff wrote that they found “a significant safety signal” for liver disease in Cempra’s solithromycin. Although Cempra designed its antibiotic to avoid the sort of side effects that were seen in patients treated with Ketek, agency medical reviewers noted that solithromycin is “structurally, highly related.” (Silverman, 11/2)
Kaiser Health News: FDA’s Drug Approval Team Copes With 700 Unfilled Jobs As Industry Lures Staff
The Food and Drug Administration has more than 700 job vacancies in its division that approves new drugs, and top officials say the agency is struggling to hire and retain staff because pharmaceutical companies lure them away. “They can pay them roughly twice as much as we can,” Janet Woodcock, who directs the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), said at a rare-diseases summit recently in Arlington, Va. (Lupkin and Tribble, 11/3)
The New York Times: Lifesaving Cancer Drugs May In Rare Cases Threaten The Heart
Powerful drugs that enlist the immune system to fight cancer can, in rare cases, cause heart damage, doctors are reporting. So far, fewer than 1 percent of patients taking these medicines — called checkpoint inhibitors — have developed heart trouble. But in those who do, the damage can be severe, and the drugs have led to several deaths by provoking the immune system to attack the heart. (Grady, 11/2)
The Wall Street Journal: Valeant Exploring Sale Of Eye-Surgery Equipment Business
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. is exploring a sale of its eye-surgery equipment business as part of a sweeping effort to unload assets and pare debt. The eye-surgery business, which Valeant acquired with its purchase of Bausch & Lomb just three years ago, could fetch as much as $2.5 billion in a sale, according to people familiar with the matter. It’s not clear who may be interested in the operation. The sales process is in an early stage and Valeant may still decide not to sell the business, some of the people said. (Mattioli, Rockoff and Benoit, 11/2)
