Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Company's Proposition: Pay For Pricey Drug In Installments Rather Than In One Go
Reuters: Drugmakers See A Pricing Blueprint In An $850,000 Gene Therapy
Global drugmakers are looking to a tiny biotech's $850,000 therapy for a rare type of blindness as a model for getting paid for highly expensive – and effective – new medicines. Spark Therapeutics Inc plans to launch its recently approved Luxturna treatment for an inherited genetic mutation that causes blindness in March. The drug is to be administered only once, by injection, and Spark plans to charge $425,000 per eye, an unprecedented price. (Humer, 1/12)
Stat: Nonprofit: Price For New Childhood Blindness Therapy Four Times Too High
The $850,000 list price for a new medicine that treats a genetic form of childhood blindness is about four times too high for the value the drug provides, a nonprofit that studies the cost-effectiveness of new drugs said Friday, though it added that the price of the drug is cost-effective for select patients and with certain assumptions. (Joseph, 1/12)
WBUR: New Cancer Treatments Top $500,000, Raise Daunting Questions About How To Pay
It’s one of the most effective cancer treatments so far. And one of the most expensive cancer drugs ever. That’s why cancer specialists are both excited about so-called CAR-T cell therapy -- and worried about what it portends for the affordability of cancer care. (Knox, 1/11)
Stat: Merck May Have Scored A Big Win In The Race To Treat A Type Of Lung Cancer
In a big boost for its immunotherapy franchise, Merck (MRK) disclosed top-line results of a key lung cancer study that showed its Keytruda treatment delivered particularly promising results. And while complete findings of the late-stage trial will not be known until the spring, the news is already reworking the outlook for the intensely competitive horse race among drug makers battling to dominate lung cancer. So what did Merck say? (Silverman, 1/16)
FiercePharma: AbbVie, Pfizer Drive 2017 Pharma TV Ad Spending Above 2016's Tally
Think you saw a lot of TV ads for drugs in 2017? That's because you did. Pharma spending on national TV ads for 2017 climbed even higher than in 2016—by more than $330 million. The total tally was $3.45 billion, compared with $3.11 billion in 2016, according to data from real-time TV tracker iSpot.tv. AbbVie antiinflammatory Humira led the way with $341 million spent on 16 commercials across three of its different indications: arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. However, the drug fell short of topping its 2016 total of $344 million. Broken out by indication, AbbVie spent $179 million on arthritis, $114 million on Crohn's and colitis, and another $48 million on psoriasis Humira commercials. (Bulik, 1/12)
Stat: FDA Delays Rule On Off-Label Marketing
In a win for the pharmaceutical industry, the Food and Drug Administration has indefinitely delayed implementing a final rule that would give the agency greater leeway to police off-label marketing. This marks the second time in the past year the agency has delayed the rule, which was scheduled to go into effect in March, and follows alarm expressed by drug makers that the proposed rule would harm public health and chill “valuable scientific speech.” (Silverman, 1/12)
Stat: Colorado Lawmaker Pushes Pricing Transparency
The pharmaceutical industry may be fighting a first-in-the-nation law in Nevada to demand pricing transparency on diabetes drugs, but Colorado legislator Dylan Roberts is not deterred. Last week, he introduced a bill to similarly demand that drug makers report pricing histories, explain price hikes, disclose costs, and reveal the rebates paid to pharmacy benefit managers. And as in Nevada, he hopes the legislation will slow the cost of caring for diabetes. In Colorado, about $720 million, or 19 percent, of all diabetes care is spent on prescription drugs to control the disease, according to the bill. (Silverman, 1/16)
WOSU: After Failure Of Issue 2, Ohio Democrat Introduces Bill To Lower Drug Prices
A Democratic lawmaker is introducing a bill that would require drug companies to slash their prices. The legislation is similar to the measure voters overwhelmingly voted down on last year’s ballot. State Sen. Charleta Tavares of Columbus says there are some key differences between her bill and the ill-fated Drug Price Relief Act that might help its chances, though her party remains a small minority in the Ohio General Assembly. (Chow, 1/16)
Maryland Daily Record: Md. Lawmakers Unveil Prescription Drug Price Legislation
Looking to curtail high prescription drug prices, Maryland lawmakers announced legislation Tuesday that would require transparency for price increases, create a state commission to review drug prices and eliminate the so-called "gag rule" for pharmacy benefit managers. (Curtis, 1/16)
FiercePharma: Eli Lilly, Sporting A Lower Tax Rate, Scouts Smaller Deals In Immunology, Cancer
Eli Lilly has tended to stay away from megadeals, and a big influx of cash from U.S. tax reform won’t change that. Behemoth buys are the sorts of deals Darren Carroll, SVP of corporate business development, thinks will see the biggest boost as companies bring their overseas earnings home, and “those deals, frankly, we don’t believe are very helpful for shareholders on either side of the equation.” (Helfand, 1/11)
Stat: U.K. Doctor Groups Overseen By The Government Fail To Disclose Pharma Payments
In an embarrassment to the U.K.’s National Health Service, clinical commissioning groups in England accepted hundreds of payments from drug makers and other companies over the past two years that were not publicly disclosed, according to an analysis by BMJ, the medical journal. Clinical commissioning groups are organizations of local U.K. doctors who issue decisions about hospital care, medicines to be prescribed, and mental health services, among other things. And these groups are overseen by the NHS. (Silverman, 1/11)
Bloomberg: Pharma, Health-Care Stocks Seen As Hottest Egypt Picks For 2018
Health-care and pharmaceutical shares could prove the hottest choices for investors in Egypt’s stock market this year as the country expands its universal health program, according to Khaled Darwish, money manager at CI Capital Asset Management. Darwish, whose firm oversees more than 9 billion Egyptian pounds ($510 million), is also positive on companies winning contracts on large infrastructure projects and says consumer stocks are recovering from the shock of 2016’s currency devaluation. The fund he helps run delivered gains of almost 45 percent last year, the best performance among 25 local open-ended stock funds, according to figures compiled by the Egyptian Investment Management Association. (Pacheco and Elyan, 1/14)
