Updates

[WSJ] If AbbVie Discounts its Hep C Drug, Would Pricing Reach a Tipping Point?

Oct 14, 2014

Now that the FDA has approved the Harvoni treatment from Gilead Sciencesand a $94,500 price for a 12-week regimen has been established, attention is turning toward AbbVie and the steps the big drug maker must take to win market share. Read More

[The Morning Consult] The Gilead Effect

Oct 14, 2014

Perhaps no company has done as much as Gilead to propel the issue of high drug prices onto center stage or to lay bare the pharmaceutical industry’s approach to pricing new drugs. Read More

[WSJ] Will ‘Son of Sovaldi’ Cause State Medicaid Programs to Erect High Hurdles?

Oct 13, 2014

How might state Medicaid programs cope with a new and equally expensive hepatitis C treatment from Gilead Sciences. Read More

[The Fiscal Times] The $1,000 Pill That Could Cripple the VA’s Budget

Oct 8, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs, still reeling from a scandal over the negligent treatment of veterans seeking medical care that may have contributed to some deaths, has a new problem on its hands. Read More

[Morning Consult] Price Matters: Consumers Want Cheap, Generic Drugs

Oct 7, 2014

Consumers keep price top of mind when they purchase prescription drugs and they’re unafraid to buy against the big labels, a new Morning Consult poll found. Read More

[WSJ] ‘Financial Toxicity:’ Who’s Really to Blame for High Cancer Drug Prices?

Oct 7, 2014

he issue of expensive cancer drugs is hardly new, of course, but 60 Minutes aired a segment that the other night that likely helped highlight the controversy for the mass audience that watches the popular news program. Read More

[60 Minutes] The Cost of Cancer Drugs

Oct 6, 2014

The 60 Minutes piece "The Cost of Cancer Drugs" aired on Oct. 5, 2014. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Richard Bonin, producer. Read More

[WSJ] New Costly Cancer Treatments Face Hurdles Getting to Patients

Oct 6, 2014

Cancer treatments that genetically modify patients’ blood cells to target the disease have shown amazing results in clinical trials. Now drug companies and biotechs must overcome big hurdles to get them into hospitals, including their potential cost. Read More

[Forbes] ’60 Minutes’ Just Attacked High Drug Prices. Here’s What You Should Know.

Oct 5, 2014

60 Minutes, the most successful news program in American history Read More

[WSJ] Lawmakers Probe ‘Staggering’ Price Hikes for Generic Drugs

Oct 2, 2014

In response to recent reports that the cost of some generic drugs has been unexpectedly rising at a rapid clip, two members of Congress have launched an investigation and asked 14 generic drug makers to providing data about what the lawmakers called the “escalating prices they have been charging” for generic medicines. Read More

[MarketWatch] Sovaldi pricing raises debate over drug costs

Oct 1, 2014

With the California-based drug manufacturer Gilead Sciences planning to roll out another hepatitis C medication, academics said Wednesday that policy changes are needed in the costly drug market so the interests of patients, health insurers and pharmaceutical companies align. Read More

[Reuters] New cancer therapy comes of age, cost a ‘toxic’ side effect

Sep 30, 2014

A raft of new cancer drugs promise better, longer-lasting treatments with fewer adverse side effects -- but their high cost is a growing concern. Read More