Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Experts Know What Doesn't Work When It Comes To Controlling Health Costs, But Are Less Certain About What Will
Stat: How To Reduce Health Care Costs? Experts Say Lots Of Ideas, Few Successes
Most countries have systems in place to evaluate drugs and their value, unlike the U.S. [Steven] Pearson, whose nonprofit group conducts similar analyses, argues that studies of whether one drug is demonstrably better than another will push progress. “If we do a better job discriminating, it will make companies go for the home run. The business model will reward those that try to innovate.” His organization concluded that a $475,000 drug for pediatric leukemia was worth its price. But a $75,000 drug for tardive dyskinesia, piggybacking on another rare-disease drug, was not. (Cooney, 4/9)
In other health industry news —
Bloomberg: 30,000 Strong And Counting, UnitedHealth Gathers A Doctor Army
Disruptors are circling the health-care industry. UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer, has built an army of tens of thousands of physicians to fend off invaders. Health care in the U.S. has been plunged into a high-speed reconfiguration that could redraw longstanding relationships between patients, doctors, drugmakers and insurers. Outsiders such as Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. are looking for ways to shake up the business. (Tracer, 4/9)
Bloomberg: Hedge Fund Adage Reaps Big Initial Gain On Health-Care Takeover
Adage Capital Management, a $30 billion hedge fund founded by two former money mangers from Harvard University’s endowment, reaped an initial gain of more than $100 million Monday after Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG agreed to acquire AveXis Inc. AveXis, which has a promising drug to treat a rare disease that afflicts infants, rose 80 percent to $208.05 a share at 9:32 am in New York trading. Novartis’ $8.7 billion offer represented an 88 percent premium to AveXis’ Friday closing price. (Stein, 4/9)
