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AHIP Launches Campaign Tearing into Pharma for Drug Prices

April 25th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

AHIP, representing members of the US health insurance industry, is targeting pharma in its latest ad campaign. The campaign lays the blame for high prescription drug prices at pharma’s feet, highlighting anti-competitive practices, unjustified price hikes, and high profit margins for the largest pharmaceutical companies. However, pharma argues that payers themselves contribute to the problem.

Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care Through Value-Based Payment Models

April 25th, 2023|Categories: Featured, HEOR Feature, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

To improve patient mental health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, behavioral health needs to move to a value-based payment model and be better integrated into primary care. However, significant hurdles stand in the way. Payers could play a pivotal role in addressing the problem, but this will require careful cooperation with providers.

HIMMS Insights: Health Tech Solutions Must Account for Health Equity

April 24th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

Several talks and presentations at this year’s Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMMS) meeting emphasized the need to factor health equity into health technology solutions. Speakers covered topics ranging from the need to target nutrition as preventative care to the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence (AI) models.

How Will AI Continue to Impact Digital Health

April 24th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , |

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being implemented as part of the development or operation of digital health solutions. The technology is not without significant ethics issues, however, namely the introduction of human bias and how the technology is used. In a new PM Live article, Matt Lewis of Inizio Medical discusses the future of AI in digital health.

Generics Group Wants in On UK Voluntary Scheme Negotiations

April 24th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

Around 40% of drugs covered by the UK’s voluntary drug revenue rebate system, the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS), are generics and biosimilars. Because of this, the British Generics Manufacturers Association (BGMA) wants in on deliberations just like the organization representing branded medications, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

Turning Interoperability Talk into Action

April 24th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

Despite significant public and private efforts, healthcare IT systems are usually not interoperable, impacting patient care, reimbursement, and research alike. As a result, real action is needed to turn ongoing discussions about interoperability into action. One way forward may be focusing on application with the people who use the systems most.

Relentless Health Value Podcast: Talking Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations with Dr. Peter Neumann

April 24th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

In the latest episode of the Relentless Health Value podcast, host Stacey Richter sits down with Peter Neumann, ScD, of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEVR) at Tufts University to discuss upcoming Medicare drug pricing negotiations. The two discuss how pricing negotiations will account for value and what effects they will have on drug prices for patients.

NICE Approves Combo Therapy for Leukemia by J&J and Abbvie

April 21st, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

The UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued its approval of J&J and Abbvie’s combination therapy of Imbruvica and Venclyxto for use as a first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The combo will be released as a pill taken once per day, the first of its kind for a CLL chemotherapy drug.

Program Targeting Food Insecurity Cut Healthcare Costs for People with Type 2 Diabetes

April 21st, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

Food insecurity leads to a poor diet that can exacerbate symptoms of type 2 diabetes, significantly increasing healthcare costs for patients and payers. A recent program by Pack Health targeted food insecurity by delivering meals and providing education to food-insecure people with diabetes type 2. Results showed that the program cut healthcare costs by $139 per month and improved health outcomes.

PhRMA Not a Fan of CMS Drug Price Negotiation Plans

April 21st, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

Just as the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) closed its public comments for the initial draft guidance for its upcoming Medicare drug price negotiations process, the pharma industry group PhRMA has laid out its complaints in a 76-page letter delivered last week. The comment window, only one month long, was a sticking point for the group.

WHO Makes Largest Database of Health Equity Data Available to the Public

April 21st, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , |

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the release of the Health Inequality Data Repository (HIDR) to the public. The database compiles health inequality-related real-world data (RWD) measuring over 2,000 metrics, totaling to almost 11 million individual data points. Analysis reveals improvements in health equity in the past decade.

US Senate Finance Committee Unveils Plan to Regulate PBMs

April 21st, 2023|Categories: Featured, HEOR Feature, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

A group of US senators in the Senate Finance Committee have released their plan to implement regulation targeting the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) industry. The plan proposes changing how PBMs get compensated for drug sales, increasing transparency, and holding them financially and legally accountable for violations.

FDA Approves Polivy as First-Line Lymphoma Treatment

April 20th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

Roche has scored a win with the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of its drug Polivy for front-line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The approval comes after some reviewers were concerned about the benefits of the drug over the standard of care based on results from the phase III POLARIX study.

Examining Why Major Insulin Manufacturers Dropped Insulin Prices

April 20th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

In the months following the US Inflation Reduction Act capping the price of insulin for Medicare recipients, three of the largest insulin manufacturers cut their prices for the drug. Leemore Dafny, PhD, broke down why the pharma giants made this decision. One key reason put forward by Dafny was the concept of corporate shaming.

Real-World Data Shows AI-Based Breast Cancer Detection Tool Supports Better Diagnoses

April 20th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: |

Real-world data (RWD) presented at this year’s meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) shows that iCAD’s Profound AI (artificial intelligence) breast cancer detection tool helped radiologists make more accurate diagnoses. The study followed five breast cancer radiologists, finding that the tool increased breast cancer diagnoses without a rise in recalls.

US Supreme Court Extends Mifepristone Access Temporarily with 2-Day Pause on Lower Court Ruling

April 20th, 2023|Categories: Featured, HEOR Feature, Industry News|Tags: , , |

The US Supreme Court has issued a 2-day pause on a lower ruling that would revoke the decades-old approval of mifepristone, a key component of the abortion pill. The stay would end at midnight this Friday, April 21st. The ruling has drawn substantial criticism, not the least of which is that allowing a judge to overturn approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would undermine the agency’s authority to regulate medications.

Examining How Real-World Data Can Advance Health Equity

April 20th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , |

Although randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for drug development and clinical research, real-world data (RWD) is increasingly being used to accelerate research and regulatory approval. In addition, RWD and the real-world evidence generated from it have great potential to advance health equity.

PhRMA Calls Foul on CMS Policy to Destroy Documents After Price Negotiations

April 19th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

The latest guidance from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contains a clause that states that manufacturers must destroy all documents from the agency within 30 days after a therapeutic is no longer considered a selected drug. PhRMA, a major industry group, claims this practice is unconstitutional and overreaching, making the process less transparent.

ICER Issues Final Report on Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi

April 19th, 2023|Categories: Featured, HEOR Feature, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

Following a session of public comments, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has issued its final evidence report on Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab). The independent organization valued the treatment between $8,900 - $21,500 per year. This is notably lower than the current list price of $26,500 per year set by the manufacturer.

FDA Gives Abbvie’s Qulipta the Nod for Chronic Migraine Prevention

April 19th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Abbvie’s Quilipta as a preventive treatment for chronic migraines. This approval gives AbbVie a leg up on Pfizer, whose migraine drug Nurtec ODT is not officially approved for chronic migraines. The decision was made based on data from a phase 3 trial that found the drug significantly reduced migraine day for patients.

Breaking Down International Regulators’ Thoughts on AI and Real-World Evidence

April 19th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , |

A newly published paper in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology explores insights shared by an international group of regulators at the 2021 Global Summit on Regulatory Science. The group consisted of regulators from the US, the UK, India, Japan, Italy, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Brazil, and Switzerland. During the talks, speakers discussed ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) and real-world evidence (RWE) in safety assessments for food and drugs.

Biden Administration to Provide Free COVID-19 Vaccines to Uninsured People

April 19th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

The Biden administration is finalizing its plan to make COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatment free for uninsured people as the vaccines enter the commercial market. Once fully commercialize, prices for the mRNA-based shots from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech are set to spike to $100+. To curb this, the administration will prepare a stockpile of vaccines and therapeutics.

Patient Recruitment Dodges Older Adults to Their Detriment

April 18th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

Despite representing the largest market for new and existing medications, a recent study by the UK-based International Longevity Centre (ILC) finds that adults over 60 are starkly underrepresented or outright excluded from clinical trials. Costs are commonly credited for this disparity, which imperils health outcomes for older adults.

CMS Health Equity Metric May Exacerbate Disparities in Some Areas

April 18th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , |

The Area Deprivation Index (ADI) is a metric that assesses the socioeconomic conditions of an area to determine if it is deemed disadvantaged. The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) uses the ADI in new payment models that reward providers for serving disadvantaged areas to promote health equity efforts. However, many areas have wealthy people living in close proximity to poorer communities, skewing results and precluding many disadvantaged communities from these initiatives.

Embracing Patient-Centered Clinical Trials to Facilitate More Representative Recruitment

April 18th, 2023|Categories: Featured, Industry News|Tags: , , , , |

Despite recent efforts, patient recruitment for clinical trials is expensive, difficult, and time-consuming. Moreover, the vast majority of clinical trials are far from representative of real patient populations, often severely lacking in people from marginalized ethnic and racial backgrounds. In a new sponsored Biopharma Dive article, learn how a patient-centered approach may facilitate cheaper and more representative recruitment.

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