Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharma's Finger Pointing Game, Congress' Inaction Among Reasons Drug Prices Haven't Been Curbed
Stat: Among Those Who Want To Lower Drug Prices, Cacophony, Not Consensus
Last year, the American Medical Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans, and the American Hospital Association together spent more than $45 million lobbying Congress, almost twice what the drugmakers’ group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, spent in the same time period. Instead, congressional efforts to lower drug prices are at a total standstill. In interviews with STAT, lobbyists, lawmakers, and congressional staffers, Republicans and Democrats alike, said the most powerful health industry players conspicuously disagree about exactly how to move forward. Every group pushes its own priorities and strategies — a cacophony that makes it unlikely that crushing drug prices will change any time soon. (Mershon, 1/26)
Bloomberg: Trump Threats On Drug Prices Leave Investors Unfazed These Days
In January 2017, Donald Trump, then president-elect, sank pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks when he said companies are “getting away with murder” with high drug prices. On Monday, the shares quickly rebounded from a hiccup, after the president at a swearing-in ceremony for his new health secretary pledged to bring prescription prices “way down.” The contrast highlights a year of threats that have so far resulted in little action. The administration hasn’t passed any policy that would directly curb drug prices, and the prospect of price negotiating by the government -- one of the industry’s biggest fears -- has faded away. Pressure on the industry was relieved last June, when several reports said the administration was working on an executive order that would have been more friendly than punitive to the pharmaceutical industry, which sent stocks up. (Daurat and Chen, 1/29)
Bloomberg: Biotech Investors Fear Bezos More Than Trump As Costs Targeted
Investors in biotech may take little notice of the president’s criticisms of drug prices these days, but there are at least three men the industry still fears. Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., said that they were teaming up to lower health-care costs for their employees Tuesday, sending shares of many drugmakers sinking. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell as much as 2.1 percent, the largest drop on an intraday basis since Nov. 14. The day prior, the index rebounded quickly after President Donald Trump pledged to bring prices “way down” and closed positively for the day. (Spalding, 1/30)
FiercePharma: Roche's Pricey New Hemophilia Drug Hemlibra Gets A Rare Blessing From U.S. Cost Watchdogs
As the market for hemophilia treatments gets more and more crowded, Roche could use all the help it can get generating enthusiasm among doctors and patients for its new entry, Hemlibra. It just scored a big thumbs-up that could do just that.will no doubt give the company a lift as it takes on that marketing challenge—and as it faces analysts' questions during its fourth-quarter earnings release on Thursday. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) issued a report concluding that Hemlibra is cost effective, despite its price of $482,000 for the first year and $448,000 after that. (Weintraub, 1/30)
Stat: Drug Makers Are Offering Bigger Discounts Than Ever Before
When it comes to the cost of pharmaceuticals, companies like to play the blame game. Drug makers carp that they must pay steep discounts to pharmacy benefit managers in order to win favorable coverage and ensure their medicines are prescribed. Pharmacy benefit managers deny pocketing unfair shares of the discounts, and argue drug makers offer discounts simply to boost sales — and could turn off the discount spigot at will. Patients, meanwhile, are caught in the middle. (Silverman, 1/24)
Forbes: Sanofi CEO: $16 Billion Deal Binge Does Not Represent A Change In Strategy
Biotech stocks are soaring because of a boom in mergers-and-acquisition deals, with established acquirers spending more than $26 billion to buy promising upstarts. More than half that sum -- $16 billion -- has been spent buy one buyer, Paris-based Sanofi. Could the French drug giant be getting reckless, or worse, desperate, as it faces approaching generic competition for its $5 billion long-acting insulin, Lantus? "We're not buying aggressively," says Olivier Brandicourt, who took over as Sanofi's chief executive in 2015. "We have exactly the same financial discipline we had initially." (Herper, 1/29)
Stat: The Ablynx Deal Is Another Big Bet By Sanofi To Remake Itself
Under pressure to appease investors, Sanofi (SNY) has twice in the past week agreed to pay hefty amounts of money to buy a pair of companies that specialize in treating blood disorders. In doing so, the drug maker is scrambling to remake itself as its key diabetes franchise struggles under pricing pressure. (Silverman, 1/29)
FiercePharma: Influential Celgene Chairman Bob Hugin Says Goodbye Amid Talk Of A New Jersey Senate Run
Celgene Executive Chairman Bob Hugin handed the CEO baton to Mark Alles in 2016, but he retained serious influence at the company—and in the biotech industry overall. Now, he's bidding goodbye to the company he joined 19 years ago as CFO. Many a chief has exited a Big Biotech for other roles in biopharma. The fact that Hugin is leaving as of Monday, Feb. 5—just a week from today—lends credence to the idea that he has another plan cooking. Celgene announced the move via email late Monday morning. (Staton, 1/29)
