�鶹Ů��

The first in a long-awaited category of drugs that have been projected to save tens of billions of dollars over the next decade became available today. But its price tag highlights a question economists and industry watchers have been wrestling with for the past few months: how much will these new drugs actually bring down prices? The new drug, Zarxio, is the first American "biosimilar" -- a copycat version of a complex biologic drug. (Johnson, 9/3)

Novartis kicked off a new era in U.S. medicine on Thursday with the launch of the first "biosimilar" copy of a biotechnology drug approved in the United States, at a discount of 15 percent to the original. The Swiss drugmaker's generics unit Sandoz said Zarxio, its form of Amgen's white blood cell-boosting product Neupogen, would increase access to an important treatment by offering a "high-quality, more affordable version". (Hirschler and Shields, 9/3)

The initial stakes are low for the imminent launch of the first U.S. biosimilar drug. Pharmaceutical companies that develop branded drugs shouldn’t expect them to stay that way. ... Beyond Zarxio’s launch, the stakes will get higher as discounts get larger. Likewise, competition will intensify. In aggregate, drugs with biosimilar competition on the way—such as AbbVie’s Humira or Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade—totaled more than $25 billion in U.S. sales in 2014. (Grant, 9/3)

Milly Scott first fell into the Medicare Part D coverage gap a year ago. A seven-year beneficiary of the government prescription coverage program for seniors, Mrs. Scott saw her co-payment for the anti-depressant Pristiq hold steady the last two years at $285 for a 90-day supply. But, between that and her other medications, she fell the program’s “donut hole” of reduced coverage for the first time in October. This year, she landed in the gap even earlier — in July. ... While the federal Affordable Care Act will eventually eliminate the gap, rising drug costs until then are sending more seniors into the hole. (Twedt, 9/4)

Hedge-fund manager Kyle Bass says he’ll persist in his campaign to invalidate what he calls weak pharmaceutical patents, despite being handed two early setbacks in recent weeks. ... On Wednesday, a panel of judges employed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office declined to review Mr. Bass’s challenge to Biogen Inc.’s multiple sclerosis pill Tecfidera patent. The ruling, which came ahead of schedule, followed a denial in August of Mr. Bass’s challenges to Acorda Therapeutics Inc.’s drug Ampyra. (Walker, 9/3)