Drug Coverage Is Shrinking, Leaving Vulnerable Patients In A Lurch. What’s Going On?

NPR: Insurers Cover Fewer Drugs, Leaving Some Patients Struggling To Get Needed Treatments
It took years for Leslie Miller to find the prescription drug that worked for her. But in December, she got a letter from her insurer that the medicine would no longer be covered by her insurance plan starting January 1. "My heart started racing immediately," says Miller, a graduate teaching assistant in the University of Oklahoma's sociology department. "I've had this happen before and it's scary." (Lupkin, 3/16)

The Associated Press: Insurers Weigh Future Filled With Pricey Drugs, Coronavirus
If your doctor wants to prescribe an extremely expensive drug, expect your insurer to look hard first at whether it works before agreeing to pay. Health insurers are hunting for more ways to tame rising costs. Aside from looking at prescription drugs, they're also covering meal deliveries and even some housing costs to keep people healthy and out of expensive emergency rooms. (Murphy, 3/15)

Lexington Herald Leader: Republicans Pressure McConnell For Vote To Lower Drug Prices
Republicans impatient to vote on legislation to lower the price of prescription drugs deployed a new tactic this week to win Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s support: tie it to the coronavirus. The Kentucky Republican is “obviously considering” the recommendation to fast-track a long-stalled legislative proposal that would, among other things, improve affordability of eventual treatments for COVID-19, said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician who supports the legislation. (Dumain, 3/13)

The Intercept: How Big Pharma Will Profit From The Coronavirus
As the new coronavirus spreads illness, death, and catastrophe around the world, virtually no economic sector has been spared from harm. Yet amid the mayhem from the global pandemic, one industry is not only surviving, it is profiting handsomely. “Pharmaceutical companies view Covid-19 as a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity,” said Gerald Posner, author of “Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America.” The world needs pharmaceutical products, of course. For the new coronavirus outbreak, in particular, we need treatments and vaccines and, in the U.S., tests. Dozens of companies are now vying to make them. (Lerner, 3/13)

FiercePharma: How Are Pharma Supply Chains Reacting To COVID-19? Without Info, It's Hard To Tell: Analyst
The novel coronavirus is putting pharma's complicated global supply chain under strain, no question. What's up in the air is just how supplies could be affected––and unfortunately, analysts just can't be sure. Why? Lack of transparency, for one thing. A dearth of information is making it hard on pharma watchers who'd like to diagnose the growing impact COVID-19 has had on individual companies' struggles, SVB Leerink analyst Ami Fadia wrote in a note to investors Monday. (Blaneknship, 3/16)

Stat: Revealing The Hidden Beauty Of Research: MIT’s 2020 Images Award Winners
Sometimes the most beautiful images are ones that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Take the hot pink grid of microscopic capsules or the sea of shimmering bubbles (below). Not only are they visually arresting images, but they reveal the inner workings of human physiology and bioscience on the microscopic scale. (3/18)

Stat: Novartis Scolded By Finnish Regulators Over Sales Of A Migraine Drug
Regulators in Finland threatened to fine Novartis (NVS) for violating laws governing the distribution of prescription medicines through pharmacies and state-owned hospitals. The Finnish Medicine Agency took the drug maker to task for allowing the Aimovig migraine drug to be made available at a reduced price to patients through hospitals on an outpatient basis, instead of through pharmacies. Another violation involved an attempt to limit patients who would have been eligible for the medicine at a reduced price, although further details were not disclosed. (Silverman, 3/16)

Stat: Merck Drug Reduces Cough Frequency But Taste Alterations Could Cloud Prospects
An experimental pill from Merck significantly reduced the frequency of chronic coughing compared to a placebo, achieving the main goal of twin, Phase 3 clinical trials, the drug maker said Tuesday. Merck has described its chronic cough drug, gefapixant, as one of the most important medicines in its research pipeline. The positive results will also likely bolster the prospects of Bellus Health, a small Canadian drug maker developing a similar drug for chronic cough. (Feuerstein, 3/17)

Stat: Major Microbiome Companies Cautiously Optimistic About Upcoming Data
This was supposed to be the microbiome’s breakthrough year — and pandemic or not, it looks like it still might be. Three companies — Finch Therapeutics, Seres Therapeutics, and Rebiotix — said earlier this year that they expected to announce results from pivotal clinical trials for recurrent C. difficile treatments sometime this summer. (Sheridan, 3/18)

Stat: Mallinckrodt Told To Pay $650 Million In Overdue Medicaid Rebates
In a setback to Mallinckrodt (MNK), a federal court judge upheld a move by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reset a benchmark used for calculating rebates the company must pay to Medicaid for its most important drug, a decision that could cost it $650 million and escalates a heated battle between the drug maker and the federal government. At issue is the amount of money the company owes CMS for its controversial Acthar Gel treatment, which is used primarily to treat infantile spasms and has been a poster child for the high cost of medicines. Over the past five-plus years, the wholesale price rose 20% and a vial now costs around $39,000, making the drug a large expense for public and private payers. (Silverman, 3/16)

Stat: Generic 'Identity' Gets Lost When Firms Juggle Generic, Branded Sales 
We think we know generic drug companies. They challenge patents held by brand firms. They litigate vigorously to overturn those patents. And they often win these challenges.But what about “generic” companies that play both sides, earning revenue from generic and brand drugs? Do they have less incentive to do what generic firms should be doing? (Carrier, Lemley and Miller, 3/17)