Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Could Be Next Salvo In Debate About Rising Drug Costs
The Food and Drug Administration this week is expected to approve the first in a new class of cholesterol-lowering medications that could represent the most significant advance in cardiology since statin drugs hit the market decades ago. But, in part because the new treatments have yet to demonstrate that they reduce the incidence of strokes and heart attacks, their approval appears set to trigger the latest fight over the high price of many drugs in the United States. (Dennis, 7/21)
If you had any doubt that prescription drug prices are the proverbial hot potato for the pharmaceutical industry, consider some recent developments. The Laura and John Arnold Foundation plans to give a $5.2 million grant to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a non-profit that examines the value of new medicines, so it can double its staff and produce more reports suggesting benchmark prices for up to 20 drugs over two years, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Silverman, 7/21)
An appeals court ruled that Novartis AG could begin the first U.S. sales of a knockoff biotech drug on Sept. 2, a key step in efforts to contain spending on high-cost therapies through lower-priced competition. The ruling Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington came on the same day Switzerland-based Novartis said its second-quarter profit fell 32% amid a strengthened U.S. dollar and a weak result from the company鈥檚 eye-care-treatment business. (Rockoff, 7/21)
