Member companies’ direct-to-consumer TV ads will direct patients to information about drug costs – including list price, estimated out-of-pocket costs for the drug, and availability of financial assistance – under a voluntary program that takes effect in April 2019; initiative falls short of mandatory list price disclosures proposed by Trump Administration.

PhRMA unveiled a voluntary policy under which drug makers will provide information in DTC ads about how to access drug prices and cost information. But hours later HHS issued a proposed rule on the same topic, only requiring drug makers to include WAC prices in TV ads. .

Remicade, Procrit, Aranesp and biosimilars will be subject to step therapy in limited number of Medicare Advantage plans in 2019.

A new joint procurement agreement between Norway and Denmark is a signal to drug companies that they will have to increasingly negotiate with more than one country in a new age of collaboration, says Amgros, the Danish medicines procurement agency.

Drug price increases have contributed significantly to US revenue growth, about 61% for the 45 largest pharmaceutical products sold over the last three years, according to an analysis by Leerink. Investors should brace for declining growth rates for certain products that generate the bulk of their sales in the US, analyst Geoffrey Porges warned.

Vertex has succeeded in bringing its portfolio-based approach to the pricing and reimbursement of its cystic fibrosis treatments to another market, Denmark. This follows similar deals in Ireland and Sweden.