drug pricing

How the IRA is actually affecting one company’s investments

Drug companies warned for years that substantive drug pricing reform would discourage companies from investing in developing new medicines. But Bayer, one of the country’s largest drug makers, is doubling down on the U.S. market instead. 

I interviewed one of the company’s top executives to chat about how drug pricing reform is actually affecting his decisions about how to invest $1 billion in research and development funding. 

“Questions of pricing and the policy environment, and so on and so forth, come to the table but in my mind, that's not the first question,” said Sebastian Guth, who is in charge of Bayer’s pharmaceutical division in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. 

My full interview is here.

investigation

Consultants’ conflict of interest

EROS DERVISHI FOR STAT

Big companies hire consultants to negotiate good deals on their health benefits. But some of these firms are actually getting paid more by PBMs, through a flow of largely hidden fees, than they are for scrutinizing contracts on behalf of employers, my colleague Bob Herman uncovered. The payments have the effect of encouraging consultants to recommend certain drug benefits vendors over others, with little regard for whether the options are cost-effective for employers and workers.

Bob pulls back the curtain on a secretive industry to unveil these little-known payment arrangements and the conflict-of-interest concerns they raise.

“There’s so much money under the table,” said Frank Stichter, an independent consultant who specializes in drug benefits. Bob’s full investigation is worth your time, especially as Congress and federal regulators are examining the PBM industry.

executive branch

Food reforms could grow stale without funding

One key part of the FDA’s push to revamp the “food” part of its jurisdiction may run into practical constraints as Congress slogs through its government funding process, my colleague Nicholas Florko writes in a new story this morning. 

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told Nick that funding restrictions set in Congress’ debt ceiling deal may make it harder for the agency to actually stand up a new office squarely focused on nutrition. The agency is also piloting new approaches to food labeling and selecting a new deputy commissioner position for human foods. 

“Given what’s happening with the flattening of the budget, it’s going to be a challenge for the first couple of years to get this up and running,” Califf said in an interview. He added, however, that the office will still be created, notwithstanding the budget challenges. Read Nick’s full story here.