Drug pricing

Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster type 2 diabetes medication is a sure bet for the list of the next 15 drugs whose Medicare prices will be negotiated in 2025 and go into effect in 2027, according to analysts and academics.

A senior senator has asked the CEOs of both companies to provide information about the limits they are putting on 340B drug pricing for hospitals.

In a high-profile showdown Tuesday with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Senate health committee, Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen will be asked to defend the drugs’ U.S. monthly list prices of $969 and $1,349, respectively.

A lawsuit filed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which claims the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program is unconstitutional, now goes back to a lower Texas court.

While unlikely to pass this year, given the Democrats’ control over the White House and Senate, the proposed legislation might be a harbinger of the Republicans’ agenda next year for the Inflation Reduction Act should they win the November elections.

In the battle over drug prices, one sector of the healthcare industry has risen above all the players as the boogeyman: pharmacy benefit managers. In this special edition of BioPharm Executive, BioSpace takes a deep dive into the lens now focused on PBMs’ business practices.

Ahead of a Senate health committee hearing next week with Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen, Sen. Bernie Sanders claims he has secured assurances from generics developers that they will charge a significantly lower monthly price than the $969 Americans currently pay for the Danish drugmaker’s diabetes blockbuster.

If Johnson & Johnson refuses to scrap its proposed changes to the 340B drug pricing for hospitals, it risks the termination of participation in the program and monetary fines, the Health Resources and Services Administration warned.

Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts announced Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Missouri against the Federal Trade Commission for its “unfair, biased and erroneous” July report on the industry.

Big Pharma has finally gotten its arms around something advocates have wanted for a long time: direct-to-consumer sales. Eli Lilly and Pfizer are leading the way.