Mining Prescription Data Helps Pharmacy Benefit Managers Identify Costs Savings
Companies like OptumRx, CVS Health and Express Scripts are using troves of data to help their clients control drug expenses. In other pharmaceutical news, AstraZeneca uses a rare children's condition to argue that its best-selling anti-cholesterol medicine Crestor should be protected from generic competition.
Bloomberg:
Pharmacy Managers Unleash Big Data
Historically, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have been known more for their relentless supply efficiency than their tech chops. But with the easiest savings already in the past, OptumRx and rivals such as CVS Health and Express Scripts have begun mining their huge troves of prescription data in search of economies. (Tracer, 6/27)
The New York Times:
AstraZeneca Pushes To Protect Crestor From Generic Competition
No more than a few hundred American children have a rare disease characterized by ultrahigh levels of bad cholesterol. Yet to the giant drug maker AstraZeneca, this small group could be worth billions of dollars. The company is making a bold attempt to fend off impending generic competition to its best-selling drug, the anti-cholesterol pill Crestor, by getting it approved to treat the rare disease. (Pollack, 6/27)
