Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study Examines Some Drugs' Higher Costs, Questionable Benefit After Exclusivity
The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot: How Marketing Exclusivity Led To Higher Drug Costs And Questionable Benefits
Six years ago, the FDA approved a drug called Colcrys to treat acute gout attacks and familial Mediterranean fever, an inherited inflammatory disorder. The move came as part of an agency initiative to regulate dozens of medicines that had never been formally approved, but were on the market when the FDA received authority to oversee the drug approval process. (Silverman, 5/5)
Bloomberg: Diabetes Drugs Compete With Prices That Rise In Lockstep
On May 30 last year, the price for a vial of the blockbuster diabetes medication Lantus went up by 16.1 percent. On the next day, Lantus’s direct competitor, Levemir, also registered a price increase -- of 16.1 percent. In 13 instances since 2009, prices of Lantus and Levemir -- which dominate the global market for long-acting injectable insulin with $11 billion in combined sales -- have gone up in tandem in the U.S., according to SSR Health, a market researcher in Montclair, New Jersey. (Langreth, 5/6)
