Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cash-Paying US Customers May Buy Ozempic At Discounted Rate Of $499
Eligible self-paying patients with Type 2 diabetes will now be able to purchase their prescribed Ozempic for $499 per month, the Danish pharma announced Monday. The lower-cost doses—coming in at half the med’s list price of about $1,000—will be available for home delivery via NovoCare and from traditional pharmacies through a collaboration with GoodRx. (Park, 8/18)
The partnership between GoodRx and Novo Nordisk represents a seismic shift in the diabetes drug sector, redefining pricing power and market access for GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs). (Northwood, 8/19)
On tariffs and drug costs —
Shionogi & Co. is weighing producing its antibiotic Fetroja in the US as the pharma industry comes under pressure from President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The Japanese drugmaker is “actively” considering the option, with a goal of starting supply during the Trump administration, though no decision has been made on a site or investment, according to a spokesman. The company expects the medicine - used to treat multi-drug resistance bacterial infection - to become a key product as cases of antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, increase. (Matsuyama, 8/18)
As the Trump administration moves forward with sweeping tariffs aimed at increasing U.S. manufacturing, health systems are ramping up efforts to protect patients from potential effects. At Renton, Wash.-based Providence, COO Darryl Elmouchi, MD, said the health system has implemented a supply chain risk management program to help prepare for challenges with respect to tariffs. (Murphy, 8/18)
President Trump may aggressively negotiate lower drug prices in Medicare using a program that Democrats created and Trump rarely mentions in public. (Wilkerson, 8/19)
Among the demands that President Trump has made to the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices, there’s been one that companies have enthusiastically supported: selling drugs directly to consumers. (Chen, 8/19)
