Showdown Looming on High Drug Prices?

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/HealthPolicy/59898?xid=fb_o_

Image result for high drug costs

Government intervention helped fuel the steep rise in prescription drug costs by granting monopolies to drug manufacturers and by mandating coverage in government-funded healthcare programs, authors of a review concluded.
In the U.S., per-capita spending on prescription drugs reached $858 in 2013, more than double the average for 19 other industrialized nations. Prescription spending accounted for 17% of the total cost of personal healthcare services.

The cost and complexity of drug development have contributed to the higher prices. However, the federal government essentially blocked the two most effective means of controlling prescription costs by delaying access to generics and placing constraints on government agencies’ ability to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers, Aaron S. Kesselheim, MD, JD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and co-authors wrote in the Aug. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A timeline of eye-popping drug prices

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/08/25/timeline-eye-popping-drug-prices/89335852/

Image result for epipen

The firestorm over steep price increases for the EpiPen — which can rescue people having life-threatening allergic reactions  — is just the latest in a long line of controversies over high prescription drug prices. A decade ago, much of the concern over prescription drug prices involved new high-tech cancer drugs, used by only a few thousand patients a year. In recent years, the prices for decades-old generic drugs have soared, as well, as pharmaceutical companies purchase the rights for drugs with no competition.

Here’s a recap of some of the most eye-popping prices.

Pfizer’s Involvement in EpiPens Could Complicate Drug Price Debate

https://morningconsult.com/2016/08/26/pfizers-involvement-in-epipens-could-complicate-drug-price-debate/

cnythzl/iStock.com

Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under intense fire for massive price hikes of EpiPens over the last week, facing scrutiny from lawmakers and industry groups. It is less well known, however, that while Mylan markets and prices the drug, Pfizer Inc. actually manufactures the drug and has seen increased revenues from EpiPens over the last few years.

The financial relationship between the two drug companies is unclear, and Pfizer declined to elaborate. Mylan did not respond to a request for further comment about EpiPens or how the two companies divide revenues.

“Meridian Medical Technologies is the contract manufacturer of EpiPen and takes great pride being able to supply a high quality and life-saving product. The terms of our supply agreement are confidential,” said Rachel Hooper, a Pfizer spokeswoman. Meridian Medical Technologies is a Pfizer subsidiary.

The EpiPen outrage centers around a 400 percent hike for the dispenser, used for emergency allergic reactions, since 2009, even though the product remains unchanged. It now costs as much as $600 for a pack of two EpiPens, which must be replaced every 12 to 18 months.

Prices soar for some popular drugs despite insurer discounts

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payer/price-hikes-for-popular-drugs-soar-above-inflation-despite-insurer-discounts

white and green pillswhite and green pills

Three out of four medicines with $1 billion or more of yearly global sales increased prices by more than double the rate of inflation between 2009 and 2015, even when insurer- and pharmacy benefit manager-negotiated discounts were factored in, a Bloomberg analysis shows.

Insurers can easily require patients to switch to alternatives, the analysis notes, giving them leverage to negotiate lower prices.

But drug costs are still putting significant pressure on payers’ margins, rising from less than 10 percent of care-cost expenditures years ago to 13 percent in 2010 and 17 percent in 2015. Insurers and state lawmakers have tried pushing back, with Virginia among severalstates trying to legislate better price transparency. Insurers also are experimenting with negotiating deals with drug manufacturers that link prices to how well the drugs work.

Bloomberg looked at 39 drugs for its analysis. Only six increased in price at the rate of inflation or below, the news agency found. Discounted prices rose significantly as well. The discounted prices for 27 of the 39 drugs rose by 25 percent or more over six years; the consumer price index rose just 9.5 percent during the same period, according to the article. Prices doubled or more for seven drugs.

Presidential election: 4 things managed care should watch

http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/presidential-election-4-things-managed-care-should-watch?GUID=A13E56ED-9529-4BD1-98E9-318F5373C18F&rememberme=1&ts=24082016

As the 2016 presidential election approaches, analysts and experts are advising healthcare executives to watch and monitor certain issues, such as pharmaceutical spending and healthcare reform, which will surely impact the health insurance industry. Here’s a look at what they recommend keeping a close eye on in particular.

Drug and Device Makers Pay Thousands of Docs with Disciplinary Records

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/physician-leaders/drug-and-device-makers-pay-thousands-docs-disciplinary-records?spMailingID=9400653&spUserID=MTMyMzQyMDQxMTkyS0&spJobID=981898992&spReportId=OTgxODk4OTkyS0

Physicians whose state boards have sanctioned them for harming patients, unnecessarily prescribing addictive drugs, bilking federal insurance programs, and even sexual misconduct nonetheless continue to receive payments for consulting, giving talks about products, and more.

Election 2016: Big Pharma’s $70 million tops California campaign contributions

http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_30117115/election-2016-big-pharmas-70-million-tops-california

With Californians facing the busiest ballot in more than a decade, big spenders are poised to make it one of the most expensive election battles in state history — already contributing $185 million to fight over everything from sex, drugs and guns to tobacco and taxes.

The money is piling up on behalf of campaigns for 17 statewide ballot measures — the most since March 2000. And when it comes to big backers, Big Pharma is far and away the towering force.

According to figures released Monday by the nonprofit MapLight, drug companies have already poured $70 million into an effort to fight Proposition 61, which would limit the prices state agencies pay for prescription drugs.

That’s 38 percent of all the money so far invested into the various ballot measures through July 7, the Berkeley-based group reported. Some observers are predicting drug company contributions will top $100 million by Election Day.

“This is their bread and butter,” said Barbara O’Connor, director emeritus of Sacramento State’s Institute for the Study of Politics and Media, who expects the industry will invest as much money as its needs to win.

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The beneficiary of that drug company money, Californians Against the Misleading Rx Measure, says they got an early start on raising campaign cash. “As the other campaigns start kicking into high gear, they will start raising more,” said Kathy Fairbanks, the no campaign’s spokeswoman.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the measure’s sponsor, has raised about $10 million, according to president Michael Weinstein.

“Maybe $100 million can convince people to vote against what is in their own best interest,” said Weinstein. “From our point of view, today, tomorrow or 10 years from now, justice will prevail on drug pricing.”

With tens of millions on hand, drug makers fight state efforts to force down prices

With tens of millions on hand, drug makers fight state efforts to force down prices

Drug makers are sick and tired of coming under attack for high prices.

And they’re spending tens of millions to try to make it stop.

“We’re under unprecedented pressure because there really is profound misunderstanding out there,” Acorda Therapeutics CEO Ron Cohen, who chairs the industry trade group Biotechnology Innovation Organization, told a crowd at BIO’s conference here this week.

“Together we’re going to fight back, and we’re going to win,” Jim Greenwood, the CEO of BIO, said in his keynote address.

Bills that would have required drug companies to justify, explain, or even cap their prices have faltered in about a dozen states in recent months. Last week, however, brought two blows to the industry: Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin Drug signed into law a transparency act that requires drug makers to justify price hikes. Similar legislation passed in the California state Senate.

Meanwhile, the industry is girding for another California fight this November over a ballot measure that seeks to cap some drug prices. A similar measure is in the works in Ohio. And the industry fears such ballot measures could pop up elsewhere.

But drug makers aren’t responding by cutting prices  — or even by keeping them stable.

 

CA Drug Price Relief Act Begins Campaign with 73% Support

http://www.yeson61.com/statewide-poll-shows-strong-support-proposition-61/

STATEWIDE POLL SHOWS STRONG SUPPORT FOR PROPOSITION 61

Yes on Prop 61/Californians for Lower Drug Prices today released the results of a statewide survey that demonstrates strong, across-the-board support for Proposition 61, The California Drug Price Relief Act, a measure to reduce drug prices paid by the State of California.

“We’re pleased that California voters have expressed such strong support for this initiative to cap drug prices,” said Garry South, lead strategist for the Yes on Prop. 61 campaign. “We don’t underestimate the effect of Big Pharma’s $100-million campaign of lies, distortions and self-serving misstatements about Prop. 61, but we start off in a very strong position. We’ll see if voters get as sick and tired of the Pharma ads against 61 as they are of the omnipresent drug-pushing ads that dominate the TV screen.”

Tulchin Research conducted the statewide survey on behalf of Yes on Proposition 61 to assess the prospects of the statewide ballot measure to help reduce the state’s prescription drug costs by requiring the state to purchase drugs from drug companies at the lowest price those companies charge the federal government. The results reveal strong bipartisan support for the measure across the state. The survey finds that nearly three-quarters of voters would vote yes in support of Proposition 61 (73% yes with leaners, 66% without leaners).

Some biosimilars are just as good as some pricey biologics

Some biosimilars are just as good as some pricey biologics

A new study suggests that a group of biosimilar drugs, which are used to treat such afflictions as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease, appear as safe and effective as their more expensive brand-name counterparts, which are known as biologics. A biosimilar drug is a nearly identical variant of a biologic and is expected to provide the same result in patients.

The analysis arrives as the US health care system, which is increasingly overwhelmed by high-priced medicines, looks toward biosimilars to provide savings. In the United States, where regulators have approved just two such drugs, some estimates say prices will be 20 percent to 30 percent less than the cost of biologics.

But until more biosimilars become available, there is some debate over the extent to which physicians will become sufficiently comfortable prescribing these drugs. Biologics are made from living cells and the brand-name biotech industry, for instance, says the complex processes needed to develop biosimilar drugs may produce slight changes that can affect safety and effectiveness. The threat of lower-priced competition has prompted brand-name drug makers to petition the Food and Drug Administration to delay approvals, among other tactics.

The study authors, however, argue their findings should put some of those concerns to rest. After analyzing 19 studies, they maintain the available data indicates biosimilar drugs based on brand-name versions of anti-TNF inhibitors should be considered interchangeable. The anti-TNF inhibitors include such big sellers as Amgen’s Enbrel, AbbVie’s Humira, and Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade.

“This is the $1 billion question — are the biosimilar versions comparable? And we found, in just about every outcome examined, that the biosimilars fare very well,” said Dr. Caleb Alexander, who is codirector of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness, and one of the authors of the study, which appeared today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.