Experts Criticize Trump’s ‘America First’ Drug Plan: Europe Paying More Doesn’t Mean U.S. Will Pay Less

Politico: Trump’s 'America First' Agenda On Drug Pricing Could Backfire Around The World
President Donald Trump wants Americans to get lower prices for medicines — and the rest of the world may pay for it. His "America First" message on drugs at home, coupled with pro-pharmaceutical industry policies abroad, could lead to higher costs for patients around the world — without making drugs more affordable for those in the U.S. Trump on Friday plans to deliver his long-promised speech on how to lower drug costs, addressing an industry he has in the past accused of "getting away with murder." (Karlin-Smith and Wheaton, 5/9)

CNN Money: Just Who Gets Those Big Drug Price Rebates?
Prescription drug manufacturers dole out billions of dollars in rebates every year, but these savings don't usually trickle down directly to consumers. That may change if the Trump administration has its way. Officials are looking to require insurers to pass at least part of these concessions along to Medicare beneficiaries, which could prompt changes in the broader insurance market as well. Drug rebates have become an essential, but opaque part of the pharmaceutical industry. However, they are now in the spotlight as the Trump administration seeks ways to lower drug prices. President Donald Trump is expected to give a speech this week on drug prices, with rebates playing a central role. (Luhby, 5/7)

Stat: With No Insurance, Amish Want Discount On Spark's Pricey Gene Therapy
The meeting could determine whether the two young siblings would keep going blind. The doctor knew that going in, but he was feeling good. He’d negotiated huge discounts before, allowing patients to get complex surgeries or budget-busting drugs they otherwise couldn’t afford. And his last two conversations with Spark Therapeutics had been promising. Then again, at $850,000 a person, Luxturna was more budget-busting than just about any other drug. Spark had proposed a few different ways of helping insurers to cover the gene therapy — but Dr. Kevin Strauss’ patients tend not to have insurance. As the medical director of the Clinic for Special Children, on the outskirts of Strasburg, Pa., he mostly sees members of the Plain community: Old Order Amish and Mennonite families, who believe that caring for the sick and the elderly is a community’s responsibility. (Boodman, 5/7)

CNBC: First US Drug Priced At More Than $1 Million May Be On The Horizon
In the paradoxical world of drug pricing, the first U.S. price tag exceeding $1 million for a medicine is being contemplated as the nation's agita over the cost of prescription drugs climbs ever higher. New gene therapies that aim to cure hemophilia, a disease affecting the blood's ability to clot, may carry prices of $1.5 million or more, analysts at Leerink wrote in a research note Monday. Gene therapies deliver a healthy copy of a gene to make up for a defective one that causes disease, aiming to cure — or at least significantly improve — the malady in just one treatment. Such therapies for hemophilia are in development at drugmakers BioMarin, Spark Therapeutics and UniQure. (Tirrell, 5/7)

Governing: States Want Control Over Drug Prices. Will The Feds Give It To Them?
While Congress remains gridlocked on health-care reforms -- particularly regarding drug prices -- states are increasingly taking matters into their own hands. In September, Massachusetts submitted a waiver to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that asks permission to exclude certain drugs from its Medicaid program, MassHealth. It’s a bold step, says Tom Dehner, Massachusetts' former Medicaid director. The move, he says, is an attemp to "take the next step in managing costs." (Quinn, 5/7)

Stat: John Arnold: 'These Pricing Trends Can't Continue'
Over the last few years, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation has tried to influence the national conversation over rising prescription drug costs by funding pilot projects and academic research. Despite increasing scrutiny of their motives, the couple generally lets their work do the talking. But last Friday, John Arnold made a rare appearance before a select group of mostly drug company employees, as well as a few academics and patient advocates. (Silverman, 5/7)

Stat: In A Message To Pharma, One-Fifth Of AbbVie Shareholders Support Proposal Tying Pricing Risks To Exec Pay 
In yet another rebuke to the pharmaceutical industry, nearly 22 percent of AbbVie (ABBV) shareholders voted in favor of a proposal that requires the drug maker to compile reports about the risks created by high prices and examine the extent to which pricing strategies propel executive compensation. This marks the second time this week that a notable portion of shareholders in a big drug company have signaled that rising prices for medicines are a concern. On Tuesday, 22 percent of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) stockholders also voted in favor of such a proposal. (Silverman, 5/4)

Bloomberg: Takeda Moves To Join Pharma Giants With $62 Billion Shire Deal
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. is joining the drug industry’s giants with Japan’s biggest overseas takeover -- a $62 billion deal for much larger rival Shire Plc.Chief Executive Officer Christophe Weber capped a drawn-out pursuit of the U.K.-listed company with an acquisition he described as transformational that will give Takeda wider reach into the world’s biggest drug market and strengthen its global pipeline for lucrative drugs that treat rare diseases. (Du and Takahashi, 5/8)

Stat: Martin Shkreli Was Hardly An Outlier When It Came To Jacking Up Prices On Older Drugs 
Specifically, among 67 older drugs with either one rival generic medicine or no competition at all, 37 were sold since 2000. And of those, the median price rose to $11.05 after the acquisition from $4.69, according to the analysis, which was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. At the same time, the median price of those drugs was higher, though not statistically significant, than the median price of drugs that did not change hands — $22.12 vs. $8.60, to be precise. And the median price of generic versions of brand-name drugs sold was higher than generic versions of brand-name drugs that did not change hands — $9.26 vs. $3.70, but again not statistically significant. (Silverman, 5/2)

Stat: Novartis Paid Shell Company Controlled By Trump's Attorney
In an unexpected twist, Novartis has gotten caught up in the messy investigation into Michael Cohen, President Trump’s personal attorney. The drug maker apparently entered into a previously undisclosed agreement with Essential Consultants, which is reportedly a shell company that Cohen used to make payments for various matters. (Silverman, 5/8)

The CT Mirror: Drug-Price Transparency Bill Passes Legislature With No Dissent
A bill designed to help Connecticut officials peer into the black box of drug pricing won final approval from a unanimous state Senate early Wednesday. Proponents of the measure called it a necessary first step toward curbing expensive prescription drug prices. Approval also was unanimous in the House on Friday, and the bill now heads to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk. (Rigg, 5/9)

CBS 60 Minutes: The Problem With Prescription Drug Pricing
The Rockford File is the story of how one very expensive prescription drug threatened to financially cripple an entire city. That city is Rockford, Illinois, an old industrial town outside of Chicago. Rather than using a health insurance company, Rockford has, for years, paid its own health care costs for its 1,000 employees and their dependents. When Rockford got hit with the drug bill it was so enormous the mayor at the time set out to understand why. Larry Morrissey: Everybody's asking the question, "Why is health care so expensive?" Because the fix is in. That's the answer. That's the short answer. (Stahl, 5/6)

CNBC: Mallinckrodt Shares Rebound After '60 Minutes' Report On Drug Prices
A "60 Minutes" investigation has put the price of one of Mallinckrodt's drugs under the microscope, but it isn't weighing on the pharmaceutical giant's stock price. The report, which ran on CBS on Sunday, focused on a lawsuit filed by the city of Rockford, Illinois. The lawsuit said the combined cost for two young patients treated with Mallinckrodt's drug, HP Acthar Gel, totaled close to half a million dollars. The drug is used to treat a rare and potentially fatal condition affecting 2,000 babies each year. (Reed, 5/7)

Business Insider: Rockford-Mallinckrodt-Express Scripts Drug-Pricing Lawsuit
The city of Rockford, Illinois runs its own health plan for its hundreds of police, firefighters, and other city workers. And a couple of years ago city officials watching the books noticed something weird about its healthcare spending. Two babies on Rockford's health insurance were eating up 2.5% of the plan's total budget. That money wasn't going for heroic surgeries or cancer treatment. Instead, the infants were being given a drug to stop infantile spasms, which is serious but easy to treat. (Ramsey, 5/7)

Bloomberg: The U.S. Is Facing An EpiPen Shortage
Adults and children with severe allergies are experiencing problems finding EpiPens after issues with manufacturing of the lifesaving devices, according to patients and pharmacists. More than 400 patients in 45 states have reported difficulty filling prescriptions for Mylan NV’s allergy devices and other auto-injectors containing the active ingredient epinephrine since May 2, James Baker, chief executive officer of patient-advocacy group Food Allergy Research & Education, said in an interview. (Edney, 5/8)

KCUR: Locked Up And Untreated: One Missouri Inmate’s Quest For Hepatitis C Treatment 
About one in seven prison inmates in Missouri have hepatitis C, a slow-moving but potentially deadly liver infection that is often spread through drug needles or sexual contact. However, almost none of those inmates gets treated, and, as [Joe] Watson discovered, even the most motivated to get care still face long odds ... Unlike older interferon-based treatment, which is highly toxic and often doesn’t work, direct-acting antiviral drugs, the first of which was approved in the US in 2013, are highly effective at treating hepatitis C with far fewer side effects. (Smith, 5/8)

The CT Mirror: House Unanimously Passes Bill To Shine Light On Drug Industry
The state House of Representatives unanimously approved a comprehensive bill that aims to shed light on the murky prescription drug industry, which state officials say is a necessary first step to lowering expensive drug costs. (Rigg, 5/4)

13 WTHR Indianapolis: Mom Takes On Lilly, High Drug Prices 
A Minneapolis mom is taking on taking on Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company.Nicole Smith Holt says she lost a son to diabetes and the skyrocketing costs of insulin. On Monday, Holt joined a small group protesting outside of Lilly's annual shareholders meeting, demanding answers and changes."My son's life was cut short because insulin cost too much." Holt said. (Van Wyk, 5/7)