Despite Intense Public And Congressional Scrutiny, Pfizer Raises Prices For More Than 40 Drugs

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Raises Prices For Dozens Of Drugs
Pfizer Inc. raised the list prices for more than 40 of its prescription drugs this week, marking a second round of increases this year despite mounting public scrutiny. The increases apply to widely used drugs including lung-cancer treatment Xalkori, Norvasc blood-pressure pills and Lyrica pain capsules, according to drug-pricing data from RELX PLC’s Elsevier information business. Many lift the list prices by 9.4% and by double-digit percentages for the year overall. (Rockoff, 7/2)

The New York Times: Why Amazon’s Push Into Prescription Drugs Isn’t A Guaranteed Success
When Amazon announced last week that it was buying the online pharmacy PillPack, it sent stocks of drugstore companies like Walgreens and Rite Aid tumbling, as investors worried that the retail behemoth would soon upend the pharmacy market. But even though Amazon has transformed the way Americans buy products as different as books and diapers, it may not have such an easy time with prescription drugs. That’s because to succeed, it will have to do business with powerful entrenched companies who are not necessarily wishing Amazon well. (Thomas and Ballentine, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Why July Is A Risky Month For Drug Price Backlash
Less than two months after its unveiling, President Donald Trump’s plan to lower prescription drug prices is up for a big test. Investors aren’t particularly worried since it stopped short of calling for Medicare to directly negotiate prices with individual drug companies. What is more, the Trump administration has been rolling the plan out at a deliberate pace. (Grant, 7/3)

CNN: Anatomy Of A 97,000% Drug Price Hike: One Family's Fight To Save Their Son
Trevor Foltz splashes in the pool in his grandparents' backyard. His brother and sister join in the fun, as does their father. Their mother, Danielle, watches from a nearby lawn chair. She's like a hawk, keeping a close eye on Trevor and the rest of her brood. It was 10 years ago in this backyard when a similar moment of revelry was shattered. Trevor, then a toddler, was running around, having the time of his life, his mom keeping steady watch. (Drash, 6/29)

Bloomberg: Two Years Of Duterte: A Mixed Picture Of Drug War, Economic Boom
President Rodrigo Duterte’s two years in office in the Philippines have been marred by controversy, but with one big success: a booming economy. The jury is still out if that’s because, or in spite, of him. The brash, 73-year-old leader -- nicknamed The Punisher when he was a crime-busting town mayor for two decades -- has led an anti-drug war that’s killed thousands of people, been labeled a misogynist, angered Catholics with his blasphemous statements and sidelined some of his enemies. (Calonzo and Lopez, 7/1)

Kaiser Health News: Out-Of-Pocket Costs Put HIV Prevention Drug Out Of Reach For Many At Risk 
Public health officials are expanding efforts to get the HIV prevention pill into the hands of those at risk, in a nationwide effort to curb infections. But the officials are hitting roadblocks — the drug’s price tag, which has surged in recent years, and changes in insurance coverage that put a heftier financial burden on patients. Since brand-name Truvada was approved for HIV prevention six years ago, its average wholesale price has increased by about 45 percent. Now, the drug — which rakes in billions of dollars in annual global revenue for its manufacturer, Gilead Sciences — carries a list price of close to $2,000 for a 30-day supply. (Luthra and Gorman, 7/3)

Stat: Medicare Spent $500 Million On A Drug After Mallinckrodt Paid Doctors
As doctors received more money from the company that sells an expensive drug known as Acthar Gel, the number of prescriptions written climbed and Medicare spending rose substantially, suggesting the payments swayed medical practice and cost taxpayers a bundle, according to a new analysis. Specifically, for every $10,000 that Mallinckrodt (MNK) paid physicians in 2015, Medicare spending rose by 7.9 percent, or $53,000, for the drug, which is used to treat infantile spasms but often prescribed for more than a dozen other maladies as well. All totaled, Medicare spent more than $500 million on the drug that year. The analysis, which appeared in the JAMA Network Open, examined payments to three types of specialists: nephrologists, neurologists, and rheumatologists. (Silverman, 6/29)

Columbus Dispatch: Capitol Insider: Why Is Ohio Medicaid Defending Pharmacy Middlemen?
Seldom have public officials been lit up during a legislative hearing quite like a pair of Ohio Medicaid executives were last week. Criticism rained down from both their fellow Republicans and from Democrats — from urban, suburban and rural representatives, and lawmakers black and white. (Rowland, 7/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Novartis Injects Itself Into Planned Rollout Of EpiPen Competitor
Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp. said it agreed to sell the U.S. commercial rights for Symjepi, an epinephrine injector for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, to Novartis AG unit Sandoz Inc.Under the exclusive agreement, Sandoz will pay an upfront fee and make potential performance-based milestone payments for the rights, Adamis said late Sunday in a news release. Net profits generated from U.S. sales of Symjepi—a potential rival to Mylan NV’s EpiPen—will be shared equally by Adamis and the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Novartis, Adamis said. (7/2)

Bloomberg: Hair-Loss And ED Drugs Startup Hims Raises Another $50 Million
Hims, a startup selling erectile-dysfunction, hair-loss and skin-care medication to men over the internet, raised $50 million to expand into more prescription-drug categories. Institutional Venture Partners led the round, which also included Forerunner Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital. The $50 million brings Hims’ total funding to $97 million. A spokeswoman declined to comment on valuation, but Wired reported in March that the company was worth $200 million. (de Vynck, 6/28)

Reuters: AbbVie, AndroGel Partner Owe $448 Million In Antitrust Case: U.S. Judge
A U.S. judge on Friday found that pharmaceutical company AbbVie Inc used sham litigation to illegally prevent generic versions of testosterone replacement drug AndroGel from getting to market and ordered the drugmaker and its partner to pay $448 million. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle in Philadelphia came in an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2014 by the Federal Trade Commission against AbbVie and its partner Besins Healthcare Inc. (Raymond, 6/29)

FiercePharma: Ex-Millennium Chief Deborah Dunsire Looks For Pipeline Growth As Lundbeck's CEO
Neuroscience specialist Lundbeck has been running without a permanent CEO since last November when then-helmsman Kåre Schultz left for Teva’s top job. Now, it has found one in Deborah Dunsire, M.D., an industry veteran whose background is primarily in oncology. Dunsire, who takes over Sept. 1, is probably most widely known as the former CEO of Millennium. During her tenure from 2005 to 2013, Dunsire transformed Millennium into an oncology biotech leader with top-selling drugs like Velcade before it was sold to Takeda to become a centerpiece of its U.S. operation. Prior to that, she had overseen Novartis’ North American oncology business for about 10 years. (Liu, 7/2)