How Pharma Companies Build An Impenetrable Fortress Of Patents To Keep Generic Competition At Bay

"One of the barriers to competition that concerns me the most is when companies game the system by taking advantage of certain rules and laws," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has said. "They exploit loopholes in our system to delay generic entry. In these ways, they extend a drug's monopoly beyond what Congress intended." Meanwhile, despite any Medicare drug changes being a long shot, the pharmaceutical industry is worried.

NPR: Celgene's Patent Fortress Protects Revlimid, Thalomid

When Celgene Corp. first started marketing the drug Revlimid to treat multiple myeloma in 2006, the price was $6,195 for 21 capsules, a month's supply. By the time David Mitchell started taking Revlimid in November 2010, Celgene had bumped the price up to about $8,000 a month. When he took his last month's worth of pills in April 2016, the sticker price had reached $10,691. By last March, the list price had reached $16,691. Revlimid appears to have caught the attention of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar who used it as an example Wednesday — without naming it outright — of how some drug's prices rise with impunity. He said the copay for the average senior taking the drug rose from $115 to about $690 per month in the last year. (Kodjak, 5/17)

Stat: Medicare Reform May Be A Long Shot. But Drug Makers Are Already Worried

Among the litany of modest changes that the Trump administration rolled out in its plan to lower drug prices is one big idea that’s already worrying drug makers: a push to consolidate the two disparate Medicare programs that pay for prescription drugs. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has been touting the idea all week as a way to bring the negotiating power of the Part D program, which covers seniors’ prescription drugs, into the Part B program, which covers other treatments. “Let me be really clear about this: We are going to bring negotiation to Part B drugs, and we are going to give Part D plans more bargaining power. It’s going to happen,” he said. (Merhson, 5/16)

And more on Novartis —

Bloomberg: How Michael Cohen Became A $1.2 Million Headache For Novartis

When Michael Cohen showed up at Novartis AG last year proposing to help the drugmaker navigate the Donald Trump administration, it sounded like a promising opportunity. Cohen had, after all, served as an attorney for Trump and had close ties to the new president. It didn’t take long for Novartis to conclude Cohen was full of hot air. And soon -- but not soon enough -- the company realized he was also a hot potato. (Paton, 5/16)

Stat: Novartis Outlines More Steps To Contain Fallout From Payments To Trump's Lawyers

Amid the fallout over the $1.2 million payments to President Trump’s personal attorney, Novartis is trying to move quickly to contain the damage. In the past 24 hours, the drug maker’s former chief executive publicly accepted responsibility for faulty judgment in trying to gain access to the Trump administration. And the chief lawyer has resigned for being a party to the contract signed with Michael Cohen. (Silverman, 5/16)

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