1. Valeant CEO J. Michael Pearson told investors in a presentation that the company lost only two of its sales reps when its relationship with specialty pharmacy Philidor RX came under scrutiny. Pearson cited the company’s outreach efforts to reassure dermatologists and podiatrists they were committed to their business despite less-than-flattering headlines. (Valeant)
2. Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez said drugmakers have to share the benefits of new medicine with insurers and health systems. Jimenez cited the company’s recently launched heart-failure drug Entresto as an example, explaining, “we’re setting the price for Entresto based on the assumption that the number of hospital admissions due to heart failure and therefore the treatment costs, will fall a certain percent.” (Reuters)
3. A Bloomberg Business analysis of prescription data found that even after discounts the US pays more for brand-name drugs than the rest of the world. AbbVie’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira costs $2,500 a month in the US compare to $1,750 in Germany. The news service also found that Roche’s breast-cancer drug Herceptin costs US patients about 85% more than in other high-income countries. (Bloomberg)
4. Higher prescription drug prices helped raise Medicare spending in 2014, according to government data released on Monday. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid said five drugs had their price increase by 100% or more. Horizon Pharma’s pain-killer Vimovo’s price rose more than 500%; Horizon acquired the rights to Vimovo from AstraZeneca in November 2013. (WSJ)
5. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plans to call for an increase in Alzheimer’s disease federal research spending as part of her campaign platform. Clinton will call for a significant rise in federal spending—to the tune of $2 billion a year—with the goal of curing the disease by 2025. (CNN)
