Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biotech Industry Joins Other Drug Companies In Pricing Debate
The Hill: Biotech Lobby Plunges Into Drug Pricing Debate
The head of the nation’s largest biotech lobby declared Wednesday he is fighting back against the raging debate over drug prices that he said has turned his industry into “an easy scapegoat” in 2016. Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) President Jim Greenwood announced a sweeping plan to reclaim the pharmaceutical industry’s reputation. ... The plan includes more paid advertisements and a campaign-style “rapid-response” team – which includes a former Jeb Bush campaign aide. BIO is also going "door-to-door" in Congress, where lawmakers have been quick to scrutinize the industry. (Ferris, 6/9)
Modern Healthcare: Drug Companies Play Offense To Justify High Price Tags
The transition to a value-based reimbursement system has put pressure on all sectors of the healthcare industry to justify the prices they charge their customers. The biopharmaceutical industry, which has long been under the spotlight for the six-figure price tags on their newest products, dedicated significant time at the annual Biotechnology Industry Organization meeting this week discussing their own transition from volume to value.High-cost biologics have been grabbing headlines for decades, but the issue has come to a head in recent years as the Affordable Care Act has placed increased pressure on government and private insurers to hold down costs. (Kutscher, 6/8)
USA Today: Drug Co-Pay Assistance Programs Facing Increasing State, Federal Scrutiny
Charity-run funds to help patients pay high co-payments face new scrutiny by prosecutors in two states and increased federal oversight, amid increasing questions about how they mask high drug prices. Three drugmakers — Gilead Sciences, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Biogen — disclosed subpoenas this spring related to their funding of co-pay assistance programs. Valeant Pharmaceuticals, already under fire here for its high drug prices, announced last October that the U.S. attorneys for both the Southern District of New York and Massachusetts had subpoenaed information about its contributions to patient assistance programs. (O'Donnell, 6/8)
Stat: Valeant To Pay $54 Million To Settle Government Probe Into Salix Drugs
For all its woes, Valeant Pharmaceuticals was not responsible for every act of bad behavior. Some problems were inherited, and the drug maker will pay $54 million to make one of those disappear. (Silverman, 6/8)
Bloomberg: Only One Big Drugmaker Is Working On A Nanobot Cure
The idea is to create implants the size of a grain of rice, or even smaller, that can be bolted directly onto nerves to treat diseases, augmenting or replacing drugs. With internal batteries to send tiny electric pulses, the implants could alter nerve signals to loosen up airways in asthma sufferers, for example, or reduce inflammation in the gut from Crohn’s disease. Even cancer is a long-term target. Side effects could be minimal, in theory, compared with those of drugs, which flood the body with foreign molecules. ... Still, the project is a long-odds bet that Glaxo is virtually alone in making among its Big Pharma peers. It has started a $50 million venture fund for bioelectronics. (Campbell, 6/9)
