Comparison Shopping for Statins
“A lot of times, kind of perversely, a pharmacy benefits manager will prefer a more expensive medicine because their markup will be more,” Pitts said. “The tightrope pharmacy benefits managers walk is weighing corporate profitability versus the best interest of the patient. And sometimes that goes hand in glove, other times there’s a conflict.” (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - March 10, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
PD3: Patient-Driven Drug Development
When it comes to the patient voice (or any voice), the plural of anecdote isn't data. But the plural of data is science. Patient passion is important to share. When combined with data and a more dispassionate understanding of regulatory paradigms, a patient-driven pathway can is, and must evolve into a tool used to impact regulatory decision-making. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 24, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
PBMS Cash In On Chronically Sick Patients..
Why can't the media connect the dots? (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 12, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Read About This FDA Action That Could Save Thousands of Lives
FDA takes steps towards right to try.. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 11, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Rob Califf IS the Short List
Respected cardiologist Dr. Robert Califf appears to be a top candidate to be the next head of the Food and Drug Administration but may face heated Senate queries over close ties to pharmaceutical companies if nominated for the post. “I have a short list of one person, and that is Robert Califf,” Peter Pitts, president of the think tank Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, told the Washington Examiner.
Pitts, a former FDA associate commissioner, said Califf would have bipartisan appeal. He was interviewed for the top job during the Bush administration and the Obama administration. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 11, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Peggy Hamburg: FDA's 21st Century Commissioner
News today that FDA Commissioner Hamburg will resign tomorrow. More on this to be sure – but for now let’s just say that she’s leaving the agency in a better place than she found it. She set the tone for the 21st Century FDA -- an impressive and gutsy millennial course.
Much on the horizon for her successor, beginning with working to shape PDUFA VI. And who better to do this than … Rob Califf. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 5, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
A Wish For World Cancer Day: Higher Drug Prices
Because they are the only way to ensure access to cancer care for all. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 4, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Warren Down the Rabbit Hole
When it comes to myths about healthcare, one of the great shibboleths is that Big Pharma profits from innovation “that comes primarily from the NIH.” It’s never been true – and now a new study confirms it. A study in Health Affairs by Bhaven N. Sampat and Frank R. Lichtenberg (What Are The Respective Roles Of The Public And Private Sectors In Pharmaceutical Innovation?) http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/2/332.full.html puts the issue in a data-driven perspective that gives the NIH its due – but in the proper frame of reference. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 3, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Is Chris Christie An Anti-Vaccine Wingnut?
Look at the record.. if you can handle the truth. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - February 3, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
PCORI's Survival Depends on Shift to Precision Medicine
It's given a lot of dough for research to support one size fits all treatment. It better get it's game on. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - January 27, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Will Congress Produce Cures?
Congress seems united to accelerate innovation. Only AHIP and the PBMs are opposed (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - January 27, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Opioid's Atlantic Charter
For a balanced look at the current debate over opioids, check out A Delicate Balance: The challenge of treating pain—and stopping prescription drug abuse—in America. It’s timely, comprehensive, science-based sponsored content in The Atlantic and well worth a read. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - January 26, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Cognitive Dissonance Over Opioids
Are opioids “bad?” Certainly they can be addictive and that fact can’t be understated. That’s precisely why they are controlled substances. And still nascent abuse deterrent technologies are helping to further decrease the opportunities for improper use. But the value of opioids is that, when used as directed, they are highly effective in combatting the scourge of pain. The truth, of course, is that opioids aren’t bad. The problem is that they’re not perfect nor are they perfectly safe – just like 100% of the prescription drugs on the market. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - January 23, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
Calling Dr. Ackerman
According to Inside Health Policy, an American Medical Association internal council report reveals the group is leaning toward a naming scheme where biosimilars and their reference products would share the same International Nonproprietary Names (INN). The report says that unique names may suggest different active ingredients within the products and go against standard nomenclature. This stance differs from that of the innovator biologics industry and a handful of specialty physician groups, which argue that shared naming would improperly imply interchangeability. Wrong. Assigning differential naming to biosimilar products...
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - January 6, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
41 -- FDA's Proudest Prime Number
The Food and Drug Administration approved 41 first-of-a-kind drugs in 2014, including a record number of medicines for rare diseases, pushing the agency's annual tally of drug approvals to its highest level in 18 years. FDA drug approvals are considered a barometer of industry innovation and the federal government's efficiency in reviewing new therapies. Last year's total was the most since the all-time high of 53 drugs approved in 1996. (Source: drugwonks.com Blog)
Source: drugwonks.com Blog - January 5, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: blogs
