Pricing Debate

Industry says it is ready to work with the government on the recommendations from a major review of Australia’s health technology assessment system that covers areas such as discount rate reductions and setting up a separate budgetary allocation to temporarily subsidize access to certain drugs.

CBER Director Peter Marks said recent leaps in gene therapy science have not been matched by more affordable manufacturing technology and that the field needs to set a cost-effectiveness target. 

As the US struggles to contain the cost of prescription medicines, a growing number of state governments are trying to take matters into their own hands and believe prescription drug affordability boards could be the answer.

The World Health Organization says its new 98-page guidance dealing with wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing is a first of its kind and addresses an important but neglected issue.

Johnson & Johnson plans to shift 340B price concessions on Stelara and Xarelto to rebates for some hospitals beginning in October, allowing for more company oversight of claims.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: CMS’s price reveal better than expected?; new diabetes risk data for Zepbound; can J&J’s lung cancer combo stand up to Tagrisso?; new recruits for BioMarin leadership; and Glenmark’s shifting revenues.

Neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump mentioned drug pricing reforms in their presidential convention speeches.

Congressional Budget Office responses to questions from US lawmakers on pharmacy benefit managers could add to the momentum for PBM reforms to go further than the current leading proposals.

The first round of US government drug price negotiations resulted in prices for 10 drugs that will lower aggregate net spending by 22%

A Japanese approval for Lilly's Alzheimer's drug donanemab is expected soon following a positive recommendation from the MHLW. The ministry has also announced reimbursement prices for 12 new products including Fabhalta, along with price cuts for Tezspire, Dupixent and competitors following a review.

It appears that the complexity of dealing with older products under the VPAG is the main cause of delays at the health department in sharing reference prices with pharma companies.

Sanofi, Alexion and Eli Lilly argue for changes in England’s health technology assessment and medicine pricing processes that could help patients to access more medicines.

Another House hearing again showcases the bipartisan desire to enact reforms to the US pharmacy benefit management sector. Legislators also sound ready to push for more significant actions than “transparency” measures would promise, but that means waiting until 2025.

Since 2019, 91 health technology assessments have been terminated by England’s NICE because companies withdrew their applications or did not submit evidence. In the first of this three-part article series, pharma firms share their reasons for opting out of the process.

The cost effectiveness watchdog claims AstraZeneca and Daiichi-Sankyo have not offered a fair price for use in the larger HER2-low setting.

Editors from the Pink Sheet and Medtech Insight discuss the retirement of Jeff Shuren, PBM executives again appear unscathed after another Capitol Hill appearance, and the growing push to ensure the FDA’s rare pediatric disease priority review voucher program is renewed.