Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
This Duo Is Quietly Crisscrossing Country, With Spiking Drug Prices Following In Their Wake
Bloomberg: When These New Pharma Bros Show Up, Drug Prices Tend To Go Monumentally Higher
For at least the past three years, Todd Smith and Benjamin Bove have crisscrossed the U.S., offering a sure-fire fix for struggling pharmaceutical companies. And wherever they go, the price of prescription drugs tend to skyrocket. ...The Chicago-based duo has played important roles at no fewer than four companies that have raised prices on life-saving and other drugs by as much as 4,116 percent. (Hopkins and Martin, 4/6)
Stat: Trump Administration Is Urged To Override Patents On Pricey Muscular Dystrophy Drug
Six advocacy groups have asked the federal government to sidestep a handful of patents on a pricey drug used to treat a rare form of muscular dystrophy as part of an ongoing campaign to provide wider access to high-cost medicines. In a letter sent on Wednesday to the Department of Health and Human Services, the groups argued that the patents — which are either owned or licensed by Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) — failed to disclose federal funding for grants that were used to develop a drug known as Exondys 51 for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This is an accompanying memo sent to HHS. (Silverman, 4/5)
Stat: Feds Broaden The Definition Of 'Pharmacy' In A Bid To Level Playing Field For Startups
Across the country, upstart pharmacies are turning the prescription drug business on its head, offering digitally-enabled mail order offerings and more convenient ways for customers to get, and take, their medications. Massachusetts company PillPack, for instance, is pre-sorting drugs into daily regimens and shipping them to customers nationwide; another business, Capsule, is filling prescriptions on demand and delivering them to homes and workplaces across New York City. But their ability to grow is largely controlled by existing competitors, including major pharmacy benefit managers who have been accused of twisting contract terms to block pharmacies’ access to their millions of U.S. customers. (Ross, 4/6)
Stat: Drug Makers Must Post Policies On Experimental Medicines. Not All Do
Drug companies are routinely flouting a law requiring that they publicly disclose detailed policies on how they handle patient requests to provide access to experimental drugs outside clinical trials, according to a STAT review. A provision in the 21st Century Cures Act said drug makers must disclose their policies on so-called expanded access requests, which are generally made by terminally ill patients. The language doesn’t force companies to offer the experimental treatments, but it does aim to help patients navigate the system more easily — making readily available information including whether companies accepts the requests, who a patient can contact in such cases, and how long it typically takes the drug maker to respond. (Mershon, 4/5)
And KHN takes a look at patient advocacy groups and their relationship with the pharmaceutical industry —
Kaiser Health News: Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers. Is There A Payback?
Pharmaceutical companies gave at least $116 million to patient advocacy groups in a single year, reveals a new database logging 12,000 donations from large publicly traded drugmakers to such organizations. Even as these patient groups grow in number and political influence, their funding and their relationships to drugmakers are little understood. Unlike payments to doctors and lobbying expenses, companies do not have to report payments to the groups. (Kopp, Lupkin and Lucas, 4/6)
Kaiser Health News: Explore The Database: Pre$cription For Power
KHN's investigative database allows you to explore the financial ties between pharmaceutical companies and organizations representing patients who need their prescription medicines. (4/6)
