Analysis

QuintilesIMS recently released Medicines Use and Spending in the U.S.: A Review of 2016 and Outlook to 2021. The report is an excellent, albeit often misinterpreted, resource for understanding the pharma market.

Below, I analyze the latest data on how pharmacy dispensing channels have changed over the past five years. Key insights:

• Retail chains now dispense nearly 6 out of 10 prescriptions.
• Mail pharmacies have experienced declining prescriptions, but have soaring purchases of specialty drugs.
• Contrary to popular belief, independent pharmacies continue to grow.

Just about every media story inaccurately reported the QuintilesIMS data as “drug spending.” To tickle your inner wonk, I also provide a primer on how to interpret and understand what the QuintilesIMS data really mean.

Reimbursement and Access 2017
August 16-17, 2017 | Philadelphia, PA
www.cbinet.com/reimbursement

The market access, pricing and reimbursement landscape is rapidly evolving as stakeholders shift to a value-based healthcare system. This transition coupled with increasing drug pricing scrutiny and mounting uncertainty related to potential repeal/replacement of the Affordable Care Act creates tremendous challenges for bio/pharma manufacturers to overcome.

Join CBI in Philadelphia this August 16-17 at Reimbursement and Access 2017. Hundreds of leaders in Access, Reimbursement, Managed Markets and Commercial Operations have benefited from this highly-acclaimed event which arms attendees with best practices and practical strategies during a time of unprecedented uncertainty on complex issues.

Powerful Programming and Compelling Content on Topics Including:

• The current state and direction of the healthcare landscape
• Evolution and trends in drug pricing transparency
• Value-based contracting and rebating strategies
• Policy, trends and initiatives around Medicare benefit design
• Updates and real-time analysis on the Healthcare Exchange Marketplace
• Payer insights on utilization management strategies
• Recent advancements in value-based care models in oncology
• Emerging pathways for pricing assessment framework
• Patient assistance and reimbursement support programs

Dynamic Dialogue Driven by a Multistakeholder Speaking Faculty Representing:
AbbVie • Apobiologix • Aralez Pharmaceuticals • AssistRx • Avalere • BIO • Boehringer Ingelheim • Celgene • Center for Medicine in the Public Interest • Chiesi USA • Churchill Pharmaceuticals • Covance • CSL Behring • Gilead • Harvard Pilgrim Health Care • Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems • Maxor National Pharmacy Services • Magellan Health • NASP • Pacira Pharmaceuticals • Pfizer • Pharming Healthcare • PhRMA • Sunovion Pharmaceuticals • UPMC Health Plan • Walgreens • And More!


Visit www.cbinet.com/reimbursement for more information. Drug Channels readers will save $500 off the standard registration rate when they use discount code EXH946.*

*Discount expires 06/30/2017 and may not be combined with other offers, category rates, promotions, or applied towards an existing registration. Offer not valid on workshop only or academic/nonprofit registrations. Other restrictions may apply.

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Ronny Gal, Ph.D., a senior analyst at the investment research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., recently published a fascinating report on the size of pharmaceutical manufacturers’ charitable foundations. Ronny has graciously agreed to let me share the high-level results below.

Ronny and his team found that pharmaceutical manufacturers’ patient assistance programs (PAPs) account for 10 of the largest 15 U.S. charities and provided $6.5 billion of support in 2014. (See table below.) On average, the manufacturers’ financial support accounts for 8% of their operating expenses.

PAPs are controversial and closely monitored. As I argue below, their growth is linked to pharmacy benefit designs that shift prescription costs to patients. Many insured patients face economically-debilitating coinsurance—in some cases with no limit on out-of-pocket expenses. The programs are an imperfect, but necessary, fix to our imperfect drug channel system. Ronny has provided some valuable facts that show how important these programs have become.

Summer is unofficially here! Before you break out the grill, check out these officially noteworthy items:

• My $0.02 on the new Express Scripts-Walgreens alliance

• CMS wants more details on pharmacy-paid DIR fees

• JAMA discovers the drug channel

Plus, revisit Asembia’s 2017 Specialty Pharmacy Summit with an awesome photo gallery. You’ll find two of my favorites lurking below.

P.S. My @DrugChannels twitter feed now has an astounding 4,100 followers. Join them and see why!

GPO Membership Eligibility and Class of Trade Maintenance
June 20-21 2017 | Parsippany, NJ
www.cbinet.com/GPOCOT

CBI’s Summit on GPO Membership Eligibility and Class of Trade Maintenance is coming up this June 20-21 at the Hilton in Parsippany, NJ. This event convenes over 100 industry professionals representing manufacturers, GPOs, wholesalers, distributors and solution providers and arms attendees with strategies to overcome the significant operational challenges related to the proper management of customer data and GPO membership data.

Interactive Discussions and Actionable Takeaways on Topics Including:

• Strategic Contracts in the Evolving Healthcare Delivery Landscape
• Class of Trade Protocol Development Strategies
• Experiences and Insights to Overcome Challenges of Membership and Class of Trade
• Wholesaler Insight on Contract Administration Processes and Best Practices
• Downstream Effects of Class of Trade Implications
• Partnership Pavilion with Insight on Propelling Collaboration for Streamlined Communication
• Plus! Benefit from 4-Focused Working Groups with attendees from CBI’s Contracts and Chargebacks conference

Multistakeholder Perspectives and Innovative Insights From:

Alliance Life Sciences • Amneal Pharmaceuticals • Arent Fox LLP • AstraZeneca • Carolinas HealthCare System • Cardinal Health • Chiesi USA Inc • Deloitte & Touche LLP • McKesson • Prometic BioTherapeutics, Inc. • Shire • Zydus Pharmaceuticals • And More!

For more information, please download the complete agenda or visit www.cbinet.com/GPOCOT. Drug Channels readers will save $200 off of the standard registration rate when they use discount code JSK589.*

*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rates. Other restrictions may apply.

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

CNBC reported last week that Amazon may enter the pharmacy and/or pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) market. Here’s the story: Amazon is hiring people to break into the multibillion-dollar pharmacy market.

The news made many people freak out and then begin speculating on all of the amazing ways that Amazon would change the drug channel. USA Today breathlessly mused: Could your next prescription come from Amazon?

Amazon has been successfully attacking the front-end business of chain drugstores. But could it really disrupt the pharmacy and PBM industries?

Below, I provide a reality check on how Amazon could compete—and what it is unlikely to do.

World Congress Pharma4
July 24-25, 2017 | Philadelphia

Please join me at the World Congress Pharma4 event on July 24 and 25 in Philadelphia. I am pleased to be the keynote speaker for this innovative event that brings together multiple stakeholders across the channel. I'll be talking about Winning Strategies for an Integrated Drug Channel.

This 4-track event includes four interrelated conferences:

• 4th Annual Specialty Network Design Summit

• 4th Annual Patient Support Services and HUB Design Summit

• End-to-End Supply Chain Summit

• Patient Services Compliance Summit

Registration to one of the four events grants you access to all of the sessions from any Summit part of Pharma4 - giving you the freedom to customize your experience!

Through high-level discussion:

• Discover new ways to address traditional and emerging patient needs through network design and channel partners
• Explore IT infrastructure to mitigate risk in data sharing and HUB design
• Understand how to drive visibility through the Implementation of a serialization model and strategy for visibility to ensure regulatory compliance and traceability in the chain
• Engage in facilitated discussions around contracting from value-based to specialty pharmacy and FMV pricing

Confirmed speakers include executives from Shire, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pfizer, J&J, GSK, Novartis, Walgreen, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Gateway Health Plan.

Click here to learn more and register for this event. Rates start at $995 for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Use discount code DC300 and save!

Please enjoy this conference introduction from Ray Tancredi of Walgreens.

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Yesterday’s article on the astounding size and growth of the 340B Drug Pricing Program generated a lot of controversy. ICYMI: The 340B Program Hits $16.2 Billion in 2016; Now 5% of U.S. Drug Market

Today, I provide some context by showing how the program has taken over the hospital market.

Most 340B purchases are made by hospitals. My exclusive number-crunching below reveals that hospitals now receive discounted 340B pricing on more than 50% of their drug purchases.

Curiously, the value of hospitals' uncompensated care has been declining while 340B purchases have been soaring.

Enjoy!

The 340B Drug Pricing Program’s explosive growth continues.

Our exclusive sleuthing reveals that discounted sales hit $16.2 billion in 2016. That’s a 34% increase over the 2015 figure. Consequently, the 340B program accounted for 5.0% of the total U.S. drug market in 2016.

Covered entities are generating billions in untraceable profits from this fast-growing program. Hospitals, which make up the vast majority of 340B purchases, should be required to account clearly for the billions the program provides them.

This growth should make everyone—especially the manufacturers providing the discounts—pay much closer attention to what’s going on.

Last week, the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) Express Scripts and the online discount card company GoodRx partnered on a new program called Inside Rx. The program provides point-of-sales discounts to uninsured patients on at least 40 brand-name drugs from eight manufacturers. Click here to read the press release.

This innovative partnership is the latest attempt to offer direct-to-consumer discounts that pop the gross-to-net bubble—at least for uninsured patients. Below, I delve deep inside Inside Rx. I explain:

• How uninsured patients benefit
• What’s in it for manufacturers, Express Scripts, and GoodRx
• Which pharmacies are in the program’s narrow network
• The surprises on the drug list
• How inside Rx compares with CVS Health’s Reduced Rx program

Depending on your position in the drug channel, you will feel either joy, sadness, fear, disgust, or anger as this new program rolls out. Please feel free to emote in the comments below.