1. A number of organizations have placed ads in Washington newspapers, including the Washington Post and The Hill, warning against proposals to lower drug prices. Some of the groups have undisclosed financial ties to PhRMA, the industry’s lobbying group. (The Intercept)
2. Drugmakers are working with advocacy groups to teach people diagnosed with rare diseases and their family members how to lobby members of Congress. Some companies are paying for patients to travel to Washington to lobby lawmakers in person. (Kaiser Health News)
3. The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said Bristol-Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy drug Opdivo was not worth covering as a treatment for head and neck cancer due to its price. (Reuters)
4. A bill in California would require pharma companies to disclose announce large price hikes of their products and also detail the reasons for those increases. (California Healthline)
5. ICYMI: A venture capitalist predicted that digital therapeutics will become “the third phase” of medicine. These digital drugs differ from medical apps and activity monitors. (MIT Technology Review)
