The Pluses, Minuses of Drugmakers' Discount Cards

While discount cards can assist patients in covering out-of-pocket expenses, their use by drug manufacturers to steer users to more expensive drugs ultimately drives up costs in the healthcare system. Many coupons and discount cards are targeted at expensive brand name medications; while they allow the patient to afford their established copay, the insurer is paying the balances of a significantly more expensive drug than the generic or preferred brand – oftentimes, leading to higher premiums the following years. Further, these discounts are usually limited to a certain number of fills or restricted timeline and cannot be used by patients in federal health plans.

Read Drug Discovery & Development's article on it here.

Podcast: Aetna Letter Sparks Controversy

Summary: After announcing an exit from the majority of the healthcare exchanges in which it currently operates, Aetna is receiving criticism over a letter it had previously sent to the Department of Justice (DOJ). In it, Aetna’s CEO stated that if the merger between his organization and Humana was blocked, the company would have to leave the exchange business. Aetna claims to have left due to financial concerns and profitability issues with the program setup, but some wonder if the letter was meant as a veiled threat. Experts point out that if the latter is true, the attempt was misguided – the DOJ typically does not consider political pressures when examining anti-trust cases and is attempting to block the merger regardless of the letter’s intent.

Hear the full podcast from Marketplace here.

New 'Scarier' Zika Warnings in the U.S.

The CDC recently released a broader range of Zika-related complications beyond microcephaly, including stillbirth, placenta damage, prematurity, etc., as well as potential links to additional non-pregnancy conditions. In this comprehensive discussion about the existing and anticipated impact of the virus, experts explain the developing understanding of transmission, effects and prevention. Although there is evidence that the disease is not in the continental US (beyond those that traveled to infected countries), experts estimate the range of the carrier mosquito to include parts of at least 30 states – with an additional potential carrier type extending as far north as Minnesota. Combined with the difficult of containment, due to the uniqueness of the mosquito (including breeding, biting habits, etc.), experts suspect that an outbreak in the United States would be the “public health version of [Hurricane] Katrina.”

Listen to the podcast about it from On Point with Tom Ashbrook.

Podcast: "How Wall Street Reacts When a Patient Dies in a Clinical Trial"

Summary

There exists an important link between scientifically proving a drug’s efficacy and safety and maintaining the confidence of investors who fund the clinical trials; one without the other likely means the drug will fail. When the drug company Zafgen entered the third stage of clinical trials for their drug, Beloranib (originally used to treat cancer, then tested for weight loss efficacy and, ultimately, the treatment of the rare Prader-Willi Syndrome which causes insatiable hunger in children), the death of two patients lead to investors pulling out and stock prices plummeting from $35/share to $7. Despite proof that both deaths were caused by a common condition to Prader-Willi patients not receiving treatment, investor confidence appears to be shaken and share prices have not returned to their original value. For small drug companies, like Zafgen, who do not have multiple high-dollar revenue streams or alternative, ongoing research opportunities, the results of a patient death (including long-term holds placed on future trials and subsequent loss of investor support) often mean the end of the business and the drugs for which patients throughout the country have been waiting.

Link to Podcast: https://www.statnews.com/2016/04/04/podcast-clinical-trial-death/