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The average annual retail cost of specialty drugs used to treat complex diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis now exceeds the median U.S. household income, according to a report to be published Friday. The study of 115 specialty drugs found that a year's worth of prescriptions for a single drug retailed at $53,384 per year, on average, in 2013 -- more than the median U.S. household income, double the median income of Medicare beneficiaries, and more than three times as much as the average Social Security benefit in the same year. (Johnson, 11/20)

In recent days, presidential candidates and even the American Medical Association have griped about rising drug prices, pointing to brand-name blockbusters with splashy ad campaigns. When it comes to patient satisfaction, however, there isn't much difference between brands and generics, according to data collected by the website Iodine, which is building a repository of user reviews on drugs. (Ornstein, 11/19)

New therapies can cure most cases of hepatitis C but lower drug prices, testing and better access to treatment are going to be needed to eliminate the liver-destroying virus worldwide, according to a New England Journal of Medicine editorial. The U.S. government is trying to attain that goal by discouraging states from limiting access to the drugs and encouraging drug companies to reveal their pricing agreements so states can get the best deal on the expensive therapy, said the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) division of viral hepatitis, who coauthored the editorial. (Emery, 11/19)

People with hepatitis C who sought prescriptions for highly effective but pricey new drugs were significantly more likely to get turned down if they had Medicaid coverage than if they were insured by Medicare or private commercial policies, a recent study found. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine analyzed the hepatitis C prescriptions from 2,342 patients in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey that were submitted between November 2014 and April 2015 to a large specialty pharmacy that serves the region. (Andrews, 11/20)

By 2020, an estimated 4.5 trillion doses of prescription drugs will be used by patients, up 24 percent from this year. In particular, increased usage is expected to jump in China, Brazil, India, and Indonesia, where the middle class is expected to swell and have greater access to health care, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, a unit of IMS Health, the market research firm. (Silverman, 11/18)

Pfizer Inc is in talks to acquire Allergan Plc for $370-$380 per share, according to a person familiar with the matter, valuing the potential deal at around $150 billion, the healthcare sector's biggest. Talks between the sides have accelerated, though the U.S. Treasury's announcement on the tightening of the rules for tax inversions has made timing more uncertain and a deal is not imminent, the source said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. (11/18)

Chris Viehbacher, ousted last year after six years as CEO of French drugmaker Sanofi, is settling into a new job that involves picking promising experimental drugs before they have been tested in human trials. Viehbacher, pushed out amid declining sales of Sanofi's top-selling diabetes drug, is now managing partner of Gurnet Point Capital, a healthcare investment fund started in 2013. The firm said on Thursday it had created a new drug-development company, Boston Pharmaceuticals, that can tap in to $600 million in available funds. (Person and Berkrot, 11/19)