Step Therapy For Medicare Part B Drugs Will Lower Costs By 20%, HHS Projects

Only a handful programs by pharmaceutical firms are in operation so far. Some companies may be waiting to see if a broad government-facilitated DTC initiative will materialize.

Senior Indegene executive William Lobb talks about complexities of the direct-to-patient distribution model in the US, including potentially introducing new intermediaries into the system. Questions on MFN's feasibility and why it may be “catastrophic” to biopharma were also part of the discussion

Business Group on Health annual employer survey highlights fast-growing Rx costs, led by the GLP-1 drugs, and payer strategies for controlling them. Policy prescriptions are unclear, though, since employers are loath to leave PBMs and nervous about pending changes to Medicare and Medicaid.

If the UK is to become a top three country in the cell and gene therapy space, it must overcome the current political “stumbling block” around making changes that recognize the value of these therapies, Matthew Durdy, CEO of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, tells the Pink Sheet.