Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: We Need Less Government And More Transparency To Curb High Drug Costs
US News & World Report: Rely On The Free Market To Address Drug Prices And Foster Innovation
Two things happened after the FDA approved a novel new treatment for hereditary blindness in December, neither of which was surprising. First the company that makes the drug announced they would charge nearly a million dollars for it. Next, the uproar began. No one asked what the costs research and regulation were, but it didn't matter: No matter what, the price was going to be too high. (Former Sen. Tom Coburn, 2/15)
The Hill: To Lower Prescription Drug Prices, Fix Existing Drug Discount Programs
One of the few policy priorities that Democrats share with President Trump is reducing prescription drug prices. At his recent State of the Union address, Trump said he wants his administration “to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of our top priorities.” Health and Human Services (HHS) is taking up Trump's call by fixing an existing prescription drug discount program known as 340B to benefit patients. (Terry Wilcox, 2/16)
Forbes: Pharma Must Use Tax-Reform Windfall To Make More Drugs Or Face Backlash
A tidal wave of cash due from the repatriation of overseas reserves as a result of tax reform threatens to exacerbate pharma’s already serious excess money problem. The country expects companies to use those profits to make more drugs, not indulge a flurry of share buybacks (Pfizer already has two in the works). Yet, for all its success, pharma doesn’t know how to profitably invest in drug discovery. The industry is in the grip of an innovation crisis. While 2017 set records with 51 new drugs approved, taken together with 2016’s 22, they barely exceed the industry average of 36 for the past 40 years. (Standish Fleming, 2/15)
Forbes: The Moment Of Truth Is Coming For Struggling And Expensive Cholesterol Drugs
It will be the moment of truth for the expensive new cholesterol drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors. Next month we will learn much more about the PCSK9 inhibitor class of cholesterol drugs. A lot of the remaining uncertainty about the efficacy— or lack of efficacy— of these drugs will be resolved when a large cardiovascular outcomes trial (CVOT), the ODYSSEY Outcomes trial, is presented in Orlando, Florida at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology on March 10. (Larry Husten, 2/15)
Bloomberg: Nektar Therapeutics-Bristol-Myers Squibb Deal: A Buyout Must Wait
Investors love it when a company's value booms, but they may not always love the consequences. Take San Francisco biotech Nektar Therapeutics. Its market cap soared to $14 billion earlier this month, from about $2 billion a year ago, driven partly by tantalizing early trial results for a combination of its lead medicine with Bristol-Myers Squibb & Co.'s blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo. Bloomberg News reported on Feb. 2 that Nektar was exploring options, "including a sale." But its swollen valuation made a takeover less likely. Instead, Bristol on Wednesday announced a deal to pay as much as $3.6 billion for a stake in Nektar's medicine. (Max Nisen, 2/14)
The Ledger: Foreign Freeloading To Blame For High Drug Prices
Americans are suffering pharmaceutical sticker shock. But the remedy Democrats are backing -- price controls on prescription drugs -- would inflict more harm by halting new discoveries and dooming patients waiting for cures. Since 1950, our increasing longevity -- an amazing 10 extra years of life for the average American -- has been mainly the result of pharmaceutical breakthroughs. If someone in your family has an incurable illness -- cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s -- the idea of slowing the pace of new cures is unthinkable. (McCaughey, 2/15)
Forbes: The Deeply Human Core Of Roche's $2.1 Billion Tech Acquisition -- And Why It Made It
Roche's recently announced acquisition of the oncology data company Flatiron Health for $2.1 billion represents a robust validation of the much-discussed but infrequently realized hypothesis that technology entrepreneurs who can turn health data into actionable insights can capture significant value for this accomplishment. (David Shaywitz, 2/18)
