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Drug prices are expected to increase 3.81% next year, propelled by expensive cell and gene therapies and glucagon-like peptide agonists. The estimate from Vizient, a group purchasing organization, tops the company's 2024 drug cost growth projection of 3.42%. Vizient uses recent provider purchasing data to forecast what hospitals and health systems might pay for drugs after discounts and rebates. (Kacik, 7/30)

Novo Nordisk's decision to stop selling its long-acting insulin Levemir in the United States has left some diabetes patients struggling to switch treatments, patients and doctors in a dozen U.S. states told Reuters. The Danish drugmaker said in November it would halt U.S. sales of Levemir by the end of 2024. Many health plans no longer cover the drug, which went off patent in 2019, and there are other options for patients on the market, Novo said. (Fick and Aboulenein, 7/30)

Former employees sued Wells Fargo on Tuesday, alleging the banking giant violated federal law by not diligently monitoring how much it was paying for their prescription drugs, which led to massive overcharges. (Herman and Silverman, 7/30)

Four pharmaceutical companies involved in the first U.S. negotiations over prices for the Medicare program said they do not expect a significant impact on their businesses after seeing confidential suggested prices from the government for their drugs that will take effect in 2026. Top executives from Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and AstraZeneca, which have five of the 10 drugs chosen for the first wave of negotiations, described their newly informed views on quarterly conference calls. (Wingrove and Erman, 7/29)

The deadline for announcing how much Medicare lowered drug prices in the first year of negotiation is Sept. 1, just ahead of U.S. elections. Here are four ways to tell whether the Biden administration got a good deal. (Wilkerson, 7/30)