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Worldwide spending on cancer medicines reached $100 billion in 2014, an increase of 10.3 percent from 2013 and up from $75 billion five years earlier, according to IMS Health's Global Oncology Trend Report released on Tuesday. The $100 billion, which represents 10.8 percent of all drug spending globally and includes supportive care drugs to address things like nausea and anemia, was driven by expensive newer treatments in developed markets, IMS found. ... The United States accounted for 42.2 percent of total spending, followed by the top-five European markets, comprised of Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Italy. (Berkrot, 5/5)

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other elected officials lobbied the Obama administration for a provision in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact that would protect pharmaceutical companies making some of the most cutting-edge and expensive drugs against competitors who want to make cheaper, generic versions of those medicines. (Radelat, 5/5)