Humira Biosimilar Gross-to-Net Pricing Bubble Was Preceded by the Same Pricing Bubble Burst for Insulin Just Months Ago
Today ' s post is not about diabetes per se, although there IS a diabetes connection. But this morning, the big news was that a biosimilar of Abbvie ' s blockbuster anti-inflammatory biologic Humira will be sold byMark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (see the press release athttps://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/06/01/2680351/33333/en/Mark-Cuban-Cost-Plus-Drug-Company-joins-forces-with-Coherus-to-make-YUSIMRY-a-HUMIRA-biosimilar-available-to-patients.html for more) at what amounts to an 85% discount to the innovator drug. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company announced the Humira biosimilar on social media today. See th...
Source: Scott's Web Log - June 1, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Abbvie Biosimilar drug discounts gross-to-net bubble Humira insulin Source Type: blogs
" Endocrine News " Podcast Episode 69: Biosimilar Insulin
The Endocrine Society has several podcasts; one of its podcasts is known by the name of " Endocrine News " . Ordinarily, I ignore most of the Endocrine Society podcasts because: a) they tend to be disproportionately focused on the topic of Type 2 diabetes and treatments for that and b) even when the podcast subject matter includes Type 1 diabetes, I find alternative sources provide considerably more information on the same topics. Partly, it is because the Endocrine Society ' s Endocrine News podcast tends to be only about 10-30 minutes in length which is frequently insufficient to address the topics they aim to addre...
Source: Scott's Web Log - May 6, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Biosimilar Biosomilars endocrine news episode insulin irl hirsch podcast podcast episode recommendations the endocrine society Source Type: blogs
Info On What It Costs To Make Insulin API's Offshore (Courtesy of China's Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)
When pharma companies refer to API ' s, they are referring to " Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients " (which is different from what an internet company means when they say API; to internet companies, the acronym API means " Application Programming Interface " ). Regardless, pharma API ' s are commonly made offshore in places like India, Malaysia, China and elsewhere because its cheaper for them and therefore helps their own bottom lines. Its unclear to me exactly how they manage issues including transporting the products across the world for some items which must be temperature-controlled, but if it fattens pharma ' s bottom...
Source: Scott's Web Log - May 1, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Biosimilar biosimilars BLA China COGS FDA Gan & Lee insulin Sandoz Source Type: blogs
Approaching a Half-Century of Life With Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)
On July 24, 2023, I will mark 47 years of having lived with autoimmune Type 1 diabetes (T1D). I was diagnosed as a seven year old, so not quite fifty years ago, but much closer than I ever really anticipated. When I was diagnosed in 1976, no one told me that I should expect horrific complications or that I ' d die young because threats weren ' t part of the conversation; some may have been due to my age. But there was also no such thing as a certified diabetes educator
in 1976; instead, pediatric nurses instructed patients on how to give
themselves an injection. In fact, scientists had only
proven that Type 1 diabetes h...
Source: Scott's Web Log - April 26, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 50 years half century half-century joslin medal Source Type: blogs
South Korea-Based Undbio Co., Ltd. + Proprietary Insulin; Maybe Biosimilars (someday)
On April 13, 2023, a South Korean biopharmaceutical company known as Undbio Co., Ltd.http://undbio.com/eng/ signed a lease with West Virginia University to build what it refers to as an insulin " manufacturing facility " in the city of Morgantown, WV (seehttps://www.wvgazettemail.com/business/undbio-planning-insulin-facility-in-morgantown/article_6b986775-6a2e-5ce5-b312-c423d79cbda2.html for more information). In all likelihood, that will be for what pharma refers to as a " fill& finish " facility, rather than one where temperature-controlled bioreactors are located.Meanwhile, a nonprofit drug company known as Civica, ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - April 24, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 morgantown west virginia wv mylan biosimilar insulin undbio Source Type: blogs
BusinessWeek Says " Why Cheaper Insulin Today Risks Higher Costs Later " . We should want that!
On April 4, 2023,Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine published an article entitled " Why Cheaper Insulin Today Risks Higher Costs Later " (seehttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-04/cheaper-insulin-from-lilly-and-sanofi-risks-raising-costs-later for the article). Unfortunately, Americans have grown much too accustomed to seeing prescription drug prices being artificially manipulated from behind-the-scenes by entities who rig the system to line their own pockets that today, we instinctively view higher prices in the future as a direct assault. Don ' t play that game!But if the market was working properly to begi...
Source: Scott's Web Log - April 7, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: glucose responsive insulin 2023 Amphastar Biocon bloomberg BusinessWeek Civica insulin prices Lannett Sandoz the Business of Diabetes Source Type: blogs
The Insulin-PBM Rebate Kickback Scheme Appears to Be Coming to an End
Last year, on March 3, 2022, in what I believe was a fantastic accomplishment relatively early in Aaron Kowalski ' s tenure as CEO, the JDRF and Civica, Inc. (via the company ' s CivicaScript operating unit) jointly announced Civica ' s intention to commercialize biosimilars of the three bestselling insulin analogues at an affordable price of $30/vial or $55/box of five insulin pens. The Civica press release can be seen athttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005321/en/Civica-to-Manufacture-and-Distribute-Affordable-Insulin/ and a concurrent press release from JDRF can be seen athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 14, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Eli Lilly and Company 2023 Civica CivicaRx CivicaScript drug prices FTC insulin insulin prices JDRF Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk Pharma Source Type: blogs
The Insulin-PBM Rebate Kickback Scheme Appears to Coming to an End
Last year, on March 3, 2022, in what I believe was a fantastic accomplishment relatively early in Aaron Kowalski ' s tenure as CEO, the JDRF and Civica, Inc. (via the company ' s CivicaScript operating unit) jointly announced Civica ' s intention to commercialize biosimilars of the three bestselling insulin analogues at an affordable price of $30/vial or $55/box of five insulin pens. The Civica press release can be seen athttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005321/en/Civica-to-Manufacture-and-Distribute-Affordable-Insulin/ and a concurrent press release from JDRF can be seen athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...
Source: Scott's Web Log - March 14, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Eli Lilly and Company 2023 Civica CivicaRx CivicaScript drug prices FTC insulin insulin prices JDRF Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk Pharma Source Type: blogs
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company ( " MCCPDC " ) PBC May Be Able to Say " Mission Accomplished " Even if Sales Stop Growing
On January 19, 2022, a startup called theMark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company ( " MCCPDC " )opened its doors to the American public as a new online pharmacy and generic manufacturing startup. Initially, MCCPDC was also planning to launch its own Pharmacy Benefit Manager, but it later scrapped those plans, instead announcing several PBM partnerships with some PBM startups which do not engage in " spread pricing " , including on generic, biosimilar and " authorized generic " drugs. The company bears the name of its famous principal investor, multibillionaire Mark Cuban, who is perhaps best known as both owner of the NBA te...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 7, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: authorized generic 2023 Alex Oshmyansky authorized generics Biosimilar biosimilars Cost Plus costplus drug company drug prices drug pricing generic drugs mark cuban Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company Source Type: blogs
Costco Wholesale: What Is Its Pharmacy Strategy? It's Complicated.
Conclusion: Costco Pharmacy Manages Hybrid Cash/Insurance Payments for Rx Drugs Better Than Most Other Big Pharmacy Chains. Still, Costco Won ' tALWAYS Be the Low-Price Leader Because of How the U.S. Prescription Drug Market Functions.Costco Pharmacy ' s cash prices for many prescriptions may be low enough for people to simply bypass their insurance and pay out-of-pocket, which Costco welcomes, similar to how Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. or a number of other rapidly-growing, cash-only pharmacies which are popping up nationwide operate because their cash prices may be potentially even cheaper than by using insurance. Howev...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 21, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Big pharma bypass insurance cash pharmacy cash-only pharmacy Costco Costco Wholesale Corp. PBM ' Source Type: blogs
Podcast Episode Recommendation: Politico Pulse Check - Can Mark Cuban disrupt prescription drugs?
Next up on my podcast episode recommendations. Today ' s recommended podcast comes fromPolitico, which is a media outlet that has a podcast called "Pulse Check" . Politico describes its Pulse Check podcast this way: " Politico Pulse Check delivers the latest news in healthcare with sharp policy analysis and a dose of real-world perspective " . In other words, the " Pulse Check " podcast is about healthcare and health care policy emanating from Washington, DC.On December 20, 2022, Politico Plus Check interviewed Mark Cuban about his cash-payCost Plus Drug Company. Before I get to the episode itself, I must acknowledge that ...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 10, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Costco mark cuban politico pulse check podcast Source Type: blogs
Podcast Recommendation: Selected Episides of Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms
So, my next podcast recommendation is for two specific episodes ofDiabetes Connections with Stacey Simms, and more specifically two in which she discusses the Civica insulin announcement which was first announced on March 3, 2022 (see the original Civica press release athttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005321/en/Civica-to-Manufacture-and-Distribute-Affordable-Insulin/ or the concurrent JDRF press release athttps://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jdrf-announces-support-of-civica-to-manufacture-and-distribute-low-cost-insulin-301495050.html). Many people subscribe to Diabetes Connections, although I ' m s...
Source: Scott's Web Log - January 9, 2023 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2023 Aaron Kowalski Civica Civica Rx CivicaRx GeneSys Biologics Ned McCoy Stacey Simms Source Type: blogs
Cigna-Express Scripts by InsideRx Strategy Modification, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Insulin Trial
Two years ago, I made a very well-informed decision to simply bypass our own healthcare insurance for a number of prescriptions used in my household because we were paying out-of-pocket until the deductible was satisfied anyway (which was about half the year), and our new insurance carrier Aetna and its PBM Caremark was obviously ripping us off by a fairly wide margin. In fact, the financial gamesmanship (or as the PBM ' s call it, " Price Arbitrage " ) was so overt, that it would have been financially foolish to stick with insurance under the presumption that it contributed toward satisfying the deductible (a falsehood; t...
Source: Scott's Web Log - November 21, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 CIGNA coupon-generating websites apps coupons Express Scripts InsideRx PBM Source Type: blogs
Mark Cuban CostPlus Drug Company Is Distributing Roche Accu-Chek Testing Supplies
Taking a bit of a break from my recent podcast recommendations, but kind of an extension of the previous one about theMark Cuban CostPlus Drug Company, on October 11, 2022, Mark Cuban ' s startup known as the Mark Cuban CostPlus Drug Company ( " MCCPDC " , in different notices shared on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) announced a partnership with Roche Diabetes Care to bring CostPlus Drugs patients to buy Accu-Chek testing supplies through them at a lower price. Thecost of buying Accu-Chek test strips from CostPlus is $16.79 for a quantity of 50 test strips. That works out to a cost of $0.34 per strip. Price-...
Source: Scott's Web Log - October 23, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 Accu-Chek cash price costplus drug company mark cuban Roche Source Type: blogs
More Insulin Biosimilars Are Forthcoming; The Market Outlook for Them
During the past few weeks, in both SEC-mandated (for publicly-held companies) earnings reports and investor presentations, plus in the business news and pharmaceutical industry trade press, we received several important, relevant updates on not one, but on FOUR insulin biosimilars currently in development from two different companies. We also know that in addition to them, insulin biosimilars are in development from at least three additional companies, plus as the " innovators " , the traditional " Big Three " insulin-makers of Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi continue making their bestsellers (for the time being, anyway).&n...
Source: Scott's Web Log - September 12, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 Biosimilar Biosomilars generic insulin Source Type: blogs
