PSA 2015 Snapshot: Pharma Experts Discuss Market Access for Breakthrough Medicines, What's Next?
In 2015, our annual Pharmaceutical Strategy Conference (PSA) hosted four pharmaceutical experts during our panel discussing market access and new payment methods for breakthrough medicines.Our panelists included:Garrett Ingram, VP, Head of US Market Access, SanofiSam Rasty, PhD, VP& Head of New Products, Rare Diseases Business Unit, Shire Pharmaceuticals in Lexington, Mass. Rod Cavin, Managing Director, Health Strategies Group. The company provides market access, insight and the market access research in the US and the U5 for pharmaceutical and device companies. Roger Longman, Chief Executive Officer, Real En...
Source: ePharma Summit - September 7, 2016 Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: drug pricing drugs medication Pharma pharma marketing pharmaceutical strategy pharmaceutical stratey conference PSA Source Type: blogs
Who gets heart cancer?
Over the last quarter of a century, I’ve written about a lot of different aspects of science and medical research. Cancer features a lot, the Big C is prominent in human misery and more common than many other diseases. Often I’ll use a phrase such as “treating liver, bowel, lung, breast, prostate and other cancers”. One phrase I don’t think I’ve ever written, until today is “heart cancer”.
Heart cancer? Do people even get heart cancer? Almost every other organ from skin to brain from gonads to liver, from head and neck to bone and blood, there’s a cancer. Experts repe...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - September 2, 2016 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Science Source Type: blogs
Capping Co-Pays Doesn ’t Lower Drug Costs
By DEVON HERRICK
Politicians are concerned about your drug costs. Unfortunately, their proposals could actually raise drug prices and force you to pay more, albeit indirectly. For instance, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposes to cap your prescription drug co-pays at no more than $250 per month. Rising drug costs are now a political issue because the number of diseases and conditions that can be treated using drug therapy has grown tremendously over the past 25 years. Arguably, one of the main reasons patients visit their doctors is to obtain or renew prescriptions. When they visit their doctors’ offices, Amer...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 18, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
On the Worst Healthcare Experience of My Life
By JESS JACOBS
This has been a very sad weekend for me personally, the wider health care community and for anyone who knew Jess Jacobs, who died on Saturday. She was only 29 years old, and was smart, funny, enthusiastic, and brave well beyond her years. She suffered from two very rare diseases, but was also working to push health policy forward at ONC, FDA and Aetna, and she really knew her stuff. Jess was a marvel and a rarity in more ways than one. She was #UnicornJess. (That link will take you to the twitter memorial on Sunday night, but also check out remembrances from Ted Eytan & Carly Medosch). I’m as...
Source: The Health Care Blog - August 15, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Matthew Holt Tags: THCB #UnicornJess Hospital Care Jess Jacobs Source Type: blogs
FDA Commissioner Califf at BIO
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) held an International Convention in San Francisco June 6 – 9, 2016. This year, the organization held two fireside chats, one of which was with Dr. Robert Califf, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Califf discussed his commitment to strengthening programs and policies that enable the agency to carry out its mission to protect and promote the public health.
Dr. Califf noted that for the past few years, the FDA has been meeting with patients and patient advocates in an attempt to better understand their diseases and medical problems, and where reg...
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 14, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List
Editor’s note: “Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List” is a monthly roundup where we share some of the most compelling health care narratives driving the news and conversation in recent weeks.
In this month’s Narrative Matters essay, former Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Louis Sullivan writes about growing up in rural Georgia and entering medical school as the only black student in his class. Sullivan graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 1958 with only $500 in debt — hard to fathom when, today, med students might finish school owing some $150,000 to $250,000. Sulli...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 12, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Jessica Bylander Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Narrative Matters On Our Reading List opioids Veterans Source Type: blogs
The Rise in Orphan Drug Designations: Meeting the Growing Demand
By: Gayatri Rao, M.D., J.D. Developing drugs for rare diseases, once considered a rare phenomenon itself, has fast become a mainstay for many companies’ drug development pipelines. This is exciting news for the 30 million Americans with rare diseases and … Continue reading → (Source: FDA Voice)
Source: FDA Voice - July 18, 2016 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
5 Heart-Warming Stories of Digital Health Saving Lives
There are truly heartwarming stories of digital health technology saving lives or helping patients live better.
The rapid development of digital health technology has resulted in scores of awesome gadgets and cool devices. It’s hard to grasp how transformative they are until you look beyond the shiny chips and lines of code. Time to fill your hearts with hope towards the future of medicine. Here are the five most inspiring and jaw dropping stories.
1) 3D-Printed Heart Saves the Life of a Nine-Month-Old Baby
The nine-month-old baby was born with a fatal heart defect in China. He was suffering from a rare condition extrem...
Source: The Medical Futurist - June 23, 2016 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Biotechnology Future of Medicine Medical 3D Printing Medical Robotics genetics genomics Healthcare Innovation wearables Source Type: blogs
5 Jaw Dropping Stories of Digital Health Technology Saving Lives
There are truly heartwarming stories of digital health technology saving lives or helping patients live better.
The rapid development of digital health technology has resulted in scores of awesome gadgets and cool devices. It’s hard to grasp how transformative they are until you look beyond the shiny chips and lines of code. Time to fill your hearts with hope towards the future of medicine. Here are the five most inspiring and jaw dropping stories.
1) 3D-Printed Heart Saves the Life of a Nine-Month-Old Baby
The nine-month-old baby was born with a fatal heart defect in China. He was suffering from a rare condition extrem...
Source: The Medical Futurist - June 23, 2016 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Biotechnology Future of Medicine Medical 3D Printing Medical Robotics genetics genomics Healthcare Innovation wearables Source Type: blogs
Four Ways To Address The Ethical Tensions Around Expedited Approval Of New Prescription Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires a new drug’s manufacturer to present affirmative evidence of its efficacy and safety before it can be marketed. Because testing new drugs requires a delay between identification of an important, novel prescription drug and FDA approval, some patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses and no satisfactory options will not live to see a potentially life-saving medication approved for public use.
To address this concern, the FDA and Congress have established several programs—with the support of pharmaceutical manufacturers and some patient advocacy groups—t...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - June 23, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Aaron Kesselheim, Spencer Phillips Hey, Dalia Deak and Bernard Lo Tags: Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Population Health Public Health Quality Bioethics breakthrough drugs Drug approval FDA priority review Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Source Type: blogs
PhRMA Members Invested $58.8 Billion in R&D in 2015
In 2015, PhRMA member companies invested $58.8 billion in research and development, up 10.3% from 2014. The new R&D data is based on findings from the 2016 PhRMA annual member survey released in the 2016 Biopharmaceutical Research Industry Profile and the corresponding industry chart pack, Biopharmaceuticals in Perspective, which highlighted the wide-reaching impact of PhRMA member companies on the economy and biopharmaceutical innovation.
In the United States, the biopharmaceutical industry is a driver of economic growth and global competitiveness, and is the most research-intensive sector of the economy. The biopharmac...
Source: Policy and Medicine - June 16, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Are Priority Review Vouchers The Answer To Incentivize Drug Development? Not So Fast.
In the May issue of Health Affairs, two papers examine the potential for voucher systems to incentivize drug development in areas of unmet medical need. Co-authors Kevin Outterson and Anthony McDonnell take a look at potential exclusivity voucher programs designed to encourage development of new antibiotics, while David Ridley and Stephane Régnier analyze the effects that expansion of existing priority review voucher (PRV) programs may have on the value of PRVs as a development incentive.
Ridley and Régnier’s work is of particular importance as both houses of Congress pursue a spate of legislative proposals that do mak...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - June 15, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Pranav Aurora, Morgan Romine and Gregory Daniel Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Featured Global Health Health Professionals Quality FDA FDAAA priority review rare diseases Source Type: blogs
Making Hepatitis C A Rare Disease In The United States
New breakthrough medicines for Hepatitis C present an important choice about setting goals and taking systemic action to achieve public health advances in the United States. Despite appearing to offer cure rates greater than 90 percent, high-priced Hepatitis C drugs have driven treatment rationing since their approval over two years ago. Gaps in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of Hepatitis C pose significant public health consequences.
In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified Hepatitis C as the leading infectious killer in the United States in 2014—the first year in which new me...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - June 15, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Victor Roy, Dave Chokshi, Stephen Kissler and Prabhjot Singh Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Equity and Disparities Featured Global Health Population Health Public Health Gilead hepatitis C Sovaldi Source Type: blogs
Featured Neuropathologist: Roger McLendon, MD
Today I feature the inimitable Dr. Roger McLendon, director of neuropathology at Duke University. McLendon has made major contributions to the field in the area of molecular characterization of gliomas. He has also demonstrated a commitment to professional service, including his current work on the Neuropathology Committee of the College of American Pathologists. Check out this interview with one of the most influential neuropathologists practicing today.....Roger McLendon, MD1. Why did you decide to become a neuropathologist?When I was in college, I asked a buddy of mine who was in vet school what c...
Source: neuropathology blog - June 9, 2016 Category: Radiology Tags: neuropathologists Source Type: blogs
Senate Aging Committee Finally Hears from Valeant
Discussion Points
Impact on Critical Access and Community Hospitals
Patient access is always a concern for Congress in hearings, and as such. Dr. Fogel fielded a question from Chairwoman Collins about the impact price increases have on rural and smaller community hospitals. He stated that 71 critical access hospitals have had to close their doors over the last few years. He did not place the entire burden on the pharmaceutical industry, but instead mentioned that pharmaceutical inflation "is a significant factor, and left unchecked it will contribute to the closing of more community hospitals."
Popularity of Rare Dis...
Source: Policy and Medicine - May 31, 2016 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
