For Years, Patients Had Been Receiving This Drug For Free. Now It Has A $375,000 Price Tag.

Stat: A Drug That Was Once Inexpensive Gets A New Price Tag: $375,000
An old, formerly inexpensive drug called Firdapse was just slapped with a steep new price tag: $375,000. The Food and Drug Administration approved Firdapse late last month to treat a rare, neuromuscular disorder called Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Although it’s the first approved therapy for this disease in the U.S., there’s a catch: For years, hundreds of patients have been receiving an unapproved version of this drug for free. (Keshavan, 12/13)

The New York Times: Trump Officials Say Drug Prices Are Inflated. So Are Some Of Their Claims On A Solution.
In his zeal to fulfill a campaign promise, President Trump has correctly identified high drug prices as a major problem for many Americans. But in defending his proposed solutions, he has sometimes stretched the facts. Mr. Trump has proposed that Medicare pay for certain prescription drugs based on the prices paid in other developed countries. He called this “a revolutionary change” and said it would save money for the government and for Medicare beneficiaries without hurting their ability to get the medicines they need. (Pear, 12/16)

Stat: Feds Want To Dismiss Lawsuits Alleging Nurse Programs Are Kickbacks 
In a boon to the pharmaceutical industry, the federal government moved to dismiss nearly a dozen lawsuits alleging drug makers devised schemes in which nurses were used illegally to promote their medicines and boost prescriptions, an arrangement that purportedly violated federal kickback laws. In explaining its rationale, the U.S. Department of Justice argued the company that made the allegations was a “professional” whistleblower that used “false pretenses” to gather information for the “cloned” lawsuits. The feds complained that several investors created a company to file the lawsuits and pretended to conduct research studies in order to obtain information for their allegations, according to court documents in a case involving Bayer Pharmaceuticals. (Silverman, 12/17)

Reuters: Indivior Plans Cheaper Opioid Addiction Drug If Rivals Launch Copycats
Indivior Plc said on Tuesday it could launch a cheaper version of its blockbuster opioid addiction treatment, Suboxone, if rivals release generic versions of the drug. The British drugmaker is also looking to reduce its dependence on Suboxone, which accounts for about 80 percent of its revenue, by focusing on another opioid addiction drug Sublocade and schizophrenia treatment Perseris. (Aripaka and Nair, 12/18)

Bloomberg: Big Pharma Grants License To Kill Drug Programs As Costs Surge
Big Pharma is looking for good kills, and its own labs are the hunting ground. Industry executives long trained to sniff out blockbuster drugs are now having to hone another skill: a feel for medicines that are unsafe, unoriginal or just unlikely to succeed. As costs escalate, knowing when to terminate those medicines has become just as important as when to move forward. (Lauerman and Paton, 12/13)

Stat: Pharma Sales Growth Is Being Crimped As Price Hikes Diminish
In the pharmaceutical world, price hikes have been the gifts that keep on giving because the hefty cumulative effects of rising price tags greatly help year-over-year revenue growth. But a new analysis suggests the trend will slow considerably as drug makers face political pressure over pricing practices. To wit, the compounded effect of rising prices contributed, on average, 5 percent in revenue growth annually over the last five years. Although total revenue growth slowed over the past year to around 1 percent, without price increases, the sales growth would have declined by a notable 6 percent, according to Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges, who analyzed data for 17 large drug makers. (Silverman, 12/14)

Reuters: Bristol-Myers Gets $1.6 Billion Offer For French Consumer Health Unit
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co received an offer from Japanese healthcare firm Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings Co Ltd to buy the company's French over-the-counter drugs business UPSA for $1.6 billion, the companies said on Wednesday. Bristol-Myers said it estimates the potential deal would be approximately $0.04 dilutive to 2019 earnings. (12/19)

FiercePharma: Shire Gears Up To Battle Allergan's Linzess With New Constipation Drug Motegrity
Takeda is set to gulp up Shire, whether disgruntled investors like the deal or not. But for those in the latter camp, the biotech’s latest approval may make it easier to swallow. The company has picked up an FDA blessing for Motegrity, which will take on rivals from Allergan and Synergy in the chronic idiopathic constipation market. Unlike its competitors, Motegrity works by stimulating muscle movement in the colon, Shire said. (Helfand, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Activist Is Said To Push Drugmaker Clovis To Pursue A Sale
Armistice Capital LLC, which has an activist stake in Clovis Oncology Inc., has encouraged the cancer drugmaker to pursue a sale, according to a person familiar with the matter. The hedge fund has been in contact with Clovis’s management about the matter, the person said. Last month, Armistice disclosed in a securities filing that it had amassed a 9.8 percent stake, making it Clovis’ second-biggest holder. At the time, it said it could push for a sale, management changes or other options. (Tan and Koons, 12/17)

Stat: Novartis Braces For A Battle Over The Cost Effectiveness Of A Gene Therapy 
In advance of a key report, Novartis is trying to prepare payers and policymakers for a forthcoming gene therapy that the company argues would be cost effective at $4 million to $5 million for each patient. The drug maker held a media briefing on Monday to discuss a draft report due later this week from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review on Zolgensma, which was developed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, a rare and inherited neurodegenerative disease that in its most fatal form causes children to die by the time they turn 2 years old. Trials showed a single dose corrected a defective gene. (Silverman, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Novartis May Team With Reinsurers To Cut Drug Costs, FT Reports
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG is considering working with reinsurers to provide alternative financing options for life-saving drugs, potentially saving substantial health-care costs, Financial Times reported on Sunday. Among the options proposed includes a “reinsurance model in which a third party underwrites the catastrophic case of a child having one of these conditions," Novartis Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan told the FT in an interview. (Poh, 12/16)

FiercePharma: Lilly's Taltz Beats Out AbbVie's Megadrug Humira In Psoriatic Arthritis Showdown
What’s a surefire way to get noticed in any field? Beat out a behemoth. And that’s what Eli Lilly’s Taltz has just done in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Monday, the Indianapolis drugmaker said its anti-inflammatory player had topped AbbVie’s Humira, the world’s best-selling drug, in a study of PsA patients who hadn’t yet been treated with a biologic. At week 24, patients treated with Taltz showed more symptom improvement than those who’d taken the megablockbuster. (Helfand, 12/18)

FOX31 Denver: Insulin, Other Drug Prices To Be Major Topic At Colorado State Capitol 
When Democrats take office in January, the progressive agenda will be lengthy. Unlike previous years, Democrats will control the State House, State Senate, and governor's office. Prescription drug prices are one of the things they will discuss. "It is really outrageous. We are getting ripped off," Governor-Elect Jared Polis told FOX31 in a September interview. (St. George, 12/17)