Moving Beyond Price-Per-Dose In The Pharmaceutical Industry

The United States has experienced extraordinary gains in treating cardiovascular disease over the last few decades. Statins, introduced in the 1980’s, are an important part of the story. Hundreds of thousands of deaths, heart attacks, and strokes have been prevented due to lower cholesterol, and the health benefits—appropriately valued—exceed $1.2 trillion. Evidence suggests there are around 40,000 fewer deaths and 60,000 fewer heart attacks annually because of these drugs. With sales that peaked around $30 billion annually, this makes statins—many of which are now generic—a very good deal. A new generation of lipid-lowering therapies, PCSK9-inhibitors, will soon reach the market and could further extend these gains. These drugs significantly lower bad cholesterol levels (LDL) in the blood. For those who have exhausted other treatment options, PCSK9-inhibitors may reduce cardiovascular events by as much as 50 percent. However, given their announced prices, some payers are nervous about their use. And, given the benefits of statins, some might ask why PCSK9-inhibitors (PCSK9i) are needed. Surprisingly, almost one-third of high-risk statin users are not reaching recommended lipid-lowering goals. Thus, while we have come a long way, many patients are still missing out on the benefits of lipid-lowering therapies. The problem here is our creaky model of pharmaceutical pricing, which now threatens to deprive patients of these and other breakthroughs to com...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Health Professionals Organization and Delivery Population Health Public Health Quality cardiovascular cholesterol patients Pharma Physicians statins Source Type: blogs