Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
President's Claim That He Brought Down Drug Prices Featured Prominently In Speech, But Facts Tell A Different Story
Stat: Trump Claims Drug Prices Have Fallen. But He’s Cherry-Picking That Data.
President Trump boldly asserted Tuesday that his administration’s efforts to bring down drug prices had led to the largest drop in those figures in nearly half a century. That’s not quite right. (Swetlitz, 2/7)
Reuters: Eli Lilly Backs U.S. Proposal On Drug Rebates To Lower Costs
Eli Lilly and Co on Wednesday embraced a U.S. government proposal to end a decades-old system of rebates drugmakers make to industry middlemen, saying it could lower the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs for patients. Lilly, along with other major insulin makers, Sanofi SA and Novo Nordisk, has been under mounting pressure from patients and politicians over the rising cost of the life-sustaining diabetes treatment. (2/6)
Reuters: Novartis CEO Says U.S. Rebate Plan Will Return Cash To Patients
Novartis AG Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan said his company's prescription drug prices have been "flat to negative" over the last three years, and directed blame for high costs for U.S. patients on industry middlemen that manage drug benefits. In an interview with Reuters in New York on Wednesday Narasimhan, a 42-year-old U.S. doctor who has headed the Swiss drugmaker since Feb. 2018, threw his support behind a U.S. government proposal to end a system of rebates drugmakers pay to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health insurers in order to get products on their lists of covered medicines. (2/6)
Bloomberg: U.S. Healthcare May Slip As Trump Renews Call To Cut Drug Prices
U.S. health-care stocks may follow European drug-making peers lower after President Trump renewed his call to bring down drug prices even as the Street said his address revealed no new surprises. Trump’s State of the Union address gave little assurance that a bipartisan compromise could be reached. Any inroads with Democrats will likely be limited given the high level of skepticism and lack of political incentive for a major compromise, Evercore ISI equity analyst Michael Newshel wrote. (Flanagan, 2/6)
And in other pharmaceutical news —
Kaiser Health News: Trump Administration Salutes Parade Of Generic Drug Approvals, But Hundreds Aren’t For Sale
The Trump administration has been trumpeting a huge increase in FDA generic drug approvals the past two years, the result of its actions to streamline a cumbersome process and combat anti-competitive practices. But nearly half of those newly approved drugs aren’t being sold in the United States, Kaiser Health News has found, meaning that many patients are deriving little practical benefit from the administration’s efforts. (Lupkin and Hancock, 2/7)
Stat: New York Biotech Debuts, Targeting Dormant Metastatic Cancer Cells
A biotech based on the frightening fact that some cancer cells spread throughout the body even before a tumor is detectable emerged from stealth mode on Thursday, announcing it had raised roughly $60 million from, among others, early-stage venture capital companies and one of biotech’s 800-pound gorillas. (Begley, 2/7)
Modern Healthcare: Senate Panel Hears Pitch On Physician-Dispensed Generics
Senators on Tuesday mulled a different way to get cheap, generic drugs to patients—encourage physicians to go around insurance plans and buy medications directly from drug wholesalers. Senate health committee chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) was struck by Tuesday's testimony from the co-founder of a direct primary-care practice who described the extremely low prices he can secure for his patients for generic drugs. Physicians in 44 states are able to purchase medications directly from wholesalers, and Alexander said he wanted to learn more about how this practice could spread. (Luthi, 2/5)
Prescription Drug Watch: For more news on rising drug costs, check out our weekly roundup of news coverage and perspectives of the issue.
