Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Report: New Glaxo Asthma Drug Price Should Be 76% Lower
An independent nonprofit organization that evaluates clinical and cost effectiveness of new medicines found the price of GlaxoSmithKline's new drug for severe asthma should be as much as 76 percent lower to justify its value, according to the group's latest draft report. The Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) said its analysis indicated that Glaxo's Nucala should be priced at $7,800 to about $12,000 a year, far below the drug's list price of $32,500 a year. (12/21)
Drug companies have taken too great a share of the benefits of new drug treatments but are moving to different models involving sharing more with health systems and insurers, the head of Swiss-based Novartis was quoted saying on Sunday.(12/21)
Buried in the details of a new 20-year distribution agreement between Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is a $150 million financial hit to Valeant that underscores the unusual nature of the deal. The amount reflects the one-time revenue impact on Valeant of the drug-distribution pact. Essentially, Valeant is buying back its own drugs from Walgreens and then reselling them on consignment to the pharmacy, said a person familiar with the matter. (Rockoff, 12/21)
Having trouble understanding the hopelessly complex world of drug pricing? Even for the experts it's a struggle —
When Martin Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals hiked the price of its anti-parasitic drug to $750 a pill, there was public outcry. So Turing and its backers resorted to a talking point employed across the drug industry: That was the list price. Nobody actually pays that. Forgive the confusion. Even for people whose job requires them to know this stuff, drug pricing is hopelessly complex. That helps explain why, for all the debate over drug costs these days, there’s surprisingly little detail about what anybody actually is paying for prescription medicines. (Scott, 12/21)
Martin Shkreli, the embattled health care businessman, has been let go by KaloBios Pharmaceuticals — one of the companies he had headed. KaloBios, which has a market cap of less than $100 million, hasn't traded since last Thursday. It was halted about 10 minutes after news of Shkreli's arrest. (Rosenfeld, 12/21)
