How PBMs Can End Up Pocketing Nearly $200 For A Bottle Of Pills Costing Less Than $6

Bloomberg: The Secret Drug Pricing System Middlemen Use To Rake In Millions
Not everybody reads the legal notices inside the Ottumwa Courier. But in January, Iowa pharmacist Mark Frahm noticed something unusual in the paper. For years, Frahm’s South Side Drug bought pills from distributors, and dispensed prescriptions to the Wapello County jail. In turn, the pharmacy got reimbursed for the drugs by CVS Health Corp., which managed the county’s drug benefits plan. As he compared the newspaper notice with his own records, and then with the county’s, Frahm saw that for a bottle of generic antipsychotic pills, CVS had billed Wapello County $198.22. But South Side Drug was reimbursed just $5.73. So why was CVS charging almost $200 for a bottle of pills that it told the pharmacy was worth less than $6? And what was the company doing with the other $192.49? (Langreth, Ingold and Gu, 9/11)

Stat: Fact-Checking An Ad War Over Drug Prices, Celgene, And Bob Hugin
The rising cost of prescription drugs is an issue in midterm races across the country, but nowhere more so than in New Jersey, where one candidate is the recently retired CEO of an actual drug company. So we decided to take a look at the rhetoric in that race, pitting incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez against former Celgene boss Bob Hugin. In TV ads blanketing New Jersey (and Philadelphia and New York City), Menendez paints his opponent as a craven profiteer, raising prices on patients with no other options. But Hugin argues that Celgene has saved thousands of lives by giving away doses of its banner cancer drug for free to patients who can’t afford it. (Garde, 9/11)

The New York Times: A Battle Plan For A War On Rare Diseases
A decade ago, when their son Bertrand was still an infant, Matthew Might and his wife, Cristina, realized that there was something terribly wrong. When he cried, his eyes stayed dry; the lack of tears damaged his corneas and threatened blindness. Eventually, he suffered seizures, a movement disorder and a severe developmental delay. It took four years to discover the problem: Bertrand had inherited two mutations of the NGLY1 gene, which plays a key role in recycling cellular waste. That meant the child’s cells were choking on their own trash. (Weintraub, 9/10)

Stat: The Hospital Exec On New Generic Maker: Trying To Bring 'Sanity'
Angered by rising prices and persistent shortages of generic drugs, seven of the nation’s largest hospital systems have launched a new, not-for-profit manufacturer. The company, which was first discussed publicly earlier this year, starts with a $100 million in capital and loans, some of which will come from three philanthropic organizations, including the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Civica Rx will contract with other companies to make more than a dozen generics and some sales will start in mid-2019. We spoke with Dan Liljenquist, a vice president at Intermountain Healthcare who initiated the project, about the possibilities and challenges. This is an edited version of our conversation. (Silverman, 9/6)

Boston Globe: In The Go-Go Biotech World, A Cautionary Tale
For the CEO of a biotech startup, there may be no bigger asset than a compelling sales pitch. Frank Reynolds had a great one. He hadn’t planned a career in biotechnology, the head of Cambridge-based InVivo Therapeutics would tell investors. His calling found him. (Saltzman, 9/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Big Pharma Catches Up With Biotech
It was a great summer for big pharma stocks. Investors shouldn’t expect that trend to reverse this fall. As has become routine, biotechnology stocks had a strong summer. A broad index of those stocks is up about 15% this year and is near a record. This time, however, major pharmaceutical companies are joining in the rally. (Grant, 9/5)

Stat: AmerisourceBergen Scrambles Again To Fix A Troubled Compounding Facility
File this under “If at first you don’t succeed, …” AmerisourceBergen (ABC), which is one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical wholesalers, has conceded that its compounding business needs to be fixed, so the company has hired manufacturing experts to review procedures at a key facility in Memphis and postponed plans to resume shipments. (Silverman, 9/7)

Stat: Pfizer Taps Two Neuroscience Startups For Incubator Prize
Just months after Pfizer slashed hundreds of jobs in  its own neuroscience R&D program, the pharmaceutical giant is making notable investments in two Boston-based neuroscience startups. The company announced Wednesday that Tevard Biosciences and QurAlis will each receive one of Pfizer’s coveted “Golden Tickets”— a valuable voucher for the fees associated with renting a spot for one scientist for one year at LabCentral, a biotech incubator in Cambridge, Mass. For companies based elsewhere, the ticket also allows a start-up to set up shop at the noted space in Kendall Square. (Sheridan, 9/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Drug Distributor AmerisourceBergen Names New Finance Chief
Drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp. ABC -0.35% said its finance chief Tim Guttman will retire in November and will be succeeded by Executive Vice President James Cleary. Mr. Guttman has served as the company’s chief financial officer since May 2012, and was previously vice president and corporate controller since joining the company in 2002. He will continue to serve as an adviser further into fiscal 2019 to ensure a smooth transition, the company said. (Shumsky, 9/10)

The Wall Street Journal: General Atlantic Takes Majority Stake In OneOncology, A Startup For Running Cancer-Doctor Practices
Private-equity firm General Atlantic has agreed to invest $200 million in a startup that aims to manage independent cancer-treatment clinics, the latest sign investors see opportunity in the health-services sector. The investment makes General Atlantic the majority owner of OneOncology, a startup that launched this month. Its founders, three cancer-treatment practices in Tennessee and New York, are the other owners and its first customers. (Evans, 9/12)

Kaiser Health News: Unwitting Patients, Copycat Comments Play Hidden Role In Federal Rule-Making
A proposal to sharply cut a drug discount program that many hospitals rely on drew some 1,400 comments when the Trump administration announced its plan last year. Hundreds appeared to come from patients across the country — pleas from average Americans whose treatments for diseases such as cancer depend on costly medicines. But a review of the responses found that some individuals were not aware they apparently had become part of an organized campaign to oppose what’s known as the “340B” program. (Tribble, 9/11)

Stat: Amid Anger Over Drug Prices, Former Pharma CEO Bob Hugin Runs For The Senate
Among the 30,000 attendees of the Rutherford Street Fair, sweating it out on the street between the zeppoles and deep-fried Oreos, was the pharmaceutical millionaire who wants to be their next senator. Bob Hugin, the former CEO of Celgene, spent Labor Day walking through the crowd with a phalanx of staff and volunteers, each with a sign and a T-shirt bearing his name. They chanted, cheered, and sloganeered as Hugin’s would-be constituents looked on, varyingly bemused or befuddled at the merry little militia demonstrating in their town. Hugin shook hands, posed for photos, and remembered to say “good to see you” but never “nice to meet you.” (Garde, 9/6)

Stat: SEC Charges Biotech Billionaire Philip Frost With Pump-And-Dump Fraud
Philip Frost, a longtime biotech billionaire, was accused Friday of taking part in a pump-and-dump stock scheme that bilked investors out of $27 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Frost and nine others in connection with what it described as a scheme to buy up shares in penny-stock biotechs, illegally promote the companies online, and then sell their shares before the bottom fell out. (Garde, 9/7)