Pricing & Reimbursement

An average overall price reduction of 48% for insulin products in China is expected to generate annual savings of $1.4bn through 2023, but multinational pharma firms will be hit hard by the bidding process.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: the prospects and plans for J&J’s pharma and oncology business; China looks more inward under new policies; an important US approval for Takeda; and Moderna’s co-founder shares tips on innovation.

The value-based procurement scheme in China is about to be implemented on insulin products and while most of Novo Nordisk's therapies were included in the tender, price cuts are going to impact global sales growth by 3% next year.

The world’s second-largest economy is fast moving away from reforms and open to a "dual circulation" model, focusing on domestic market consumption while reducing export-driven production. Executives and investors shared views at a conference on whether multinational pharma firms are still welcome in China and what opportunities may lie in the drastic policy shift.

While Democrat politicians - and most voters- want to see drug pricing negotiations introduced in the US for the first time, pharma leaders believe a deal on out of pocket costs will be agreed instead.

ICER's report on unsupported price increases highlighted seven drugs that cost the US health system $1.67bn due to price increases after rebates and other concessions.

The Biogen/Eisai drug may have a disease-modifying impact on Alzheimer’s progression but the lack of published evidence is still causing prescriber reluctance and hampering reimbursement decisions.

China has signaled that it will offer a more level playing field to foreign players as part of a bid to join a major regional trade pact but some see the gesture as offering little real relief and high hurdles remain.

Analysts expected at least $12m in third quarter sales, but the Alzheimer’s therapy brought in just $300,000. The company says educating doctors and procuring a coverage determination from CMS – not lower pricing – are key to growth.  

First interchangeable insulin biosimilar gains preferred status on one of the largest national formularies in the US.

Execs told Scrip they hope to get Tyrvaya (varenicline) onto formularies and aim for pricing that would make its nasal spray competitive with Restasis and Xiidra.

From the latest COVID-19 advances to the emergence of a game changer for heart failure, Scrip’s editor in chief Eleanor Malone reviews the big stories of the past three months. Safety issues around JAK inhibitors and AAV vector-based gene therapy were also to the fore, while biopharma financing continued apace.