Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Government Is Giving Monopoly Protection To Essentially Generic Versions Of Drugs
The Wall Street Journal: How FDA Rules Made A $15 Drug Cost $400
The theory is that generic drugs should be less expensive than the original. By the time a generic hits the market, the drug’s patent has expired, allowing competition from companies that didn’t spend millions of dollars to develop it. As more options become available, prices are supposed to drop. But because of quirks in America’s regulatory system, it doesn’t always work out this way. (Mark L. Baum, 4/5)
Sacramento Bee: True Health Care Reform Must Address Rising Drug Prices
Rising drug prices are one of the top three health care challenges we face today. Considering that President Donald Trump and state elected leaders in California and across the country have voiced concern over this growing problem, it is baffling that the issue was absent from policy discussions during the Congressional “repeal and replace” effort. (Jeffrey Lewis, 4/5)
Bloomberg: New Captain, Same Ship For Axovant
One of the most highly prized quality that biotech investors seek in a CEO is the ability to sell one's firm to big pharma at a huge premium. The current king is David Hung, the former CEO of cancer drugmaker Medivation, who stoked a bidding war that led Pfizer to acquire the company for $14 billion at a 118 percent premium to its unaffected share price. On Monday, Hung became CEO of Axovant Sciences Inc., a biotech focused on an Alzheimer's treatment, picking the company over what he says were more than 20 other job offers. (Max Nisen, 4/11)
Harvard Business Review: The Cost Of Drugs For Rare Diseases Is Threatening The U.S. Health Care System
No parents should have to watch their child die, yet my former colleague “Will” and his wife “Mary” watched powerless as two of their children succumbed to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). “Isaac” and “Lizzy” were never able to sit, talk, or eat on their own, and each passed away as toddlers. (A. Gordon Smith, 4/7)
Scranton Times-Tribune: Go After Drug Price-Gougers
Members of Congress conducted hearings last year and justly pilloried executives for several pharmaceutical companies who had exponentially increased the prices of lifesaving medicines. Then, they did nothing.Monday, the Maryland Legislature stepped up and overwhelmingly passed a bill authorizing the state attorney to act against price-gouging. (4/11)
