Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, thanks to the sunny skies over the STAT nerve center, where we are participating in the latest summit. Please feel free to tune in and digest some of the big thoughts being discussed. Meanwhile, we have assembled a new menu of tidbits for you to peruse. As always, we hope your day is meaningful and productive. And do stay in touch. We appreciated the feedback and suggestions. …
Pfizer will price a course of its Covid-19 drug Paxlovid at nearly $1,400 when commercial sales begin later this year, more than double what the U.S. government has paid, The Wall Street Journal reports. The U.S. government had paid $529. Health plans will probably pay much less than the list price for the pills, and most patients will have a small or no out-of-pocket cost because Pfizer is expected to offer price discounts and help patients with their out-of-pocket charges. Pfizer has already faced criticism from doctors and patient advocates that raising the price will limit patient access. Disclosure of the list price will probably fuel further criticism.
Monica Bertagnolli, the Biden administration nominee to lead the U.S. National Institutes of Health, spent her confirmation hearing Wednesday stuck in the middle of bickering by Republicans and Democrats over the agency role in high drug costs, ultimately refusing to commit to either party’s approach, STAT explains. The long-awaited hearing came months after Health Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pledged to stall her confirmation process until Biden did more to address high drug prices, like an assurance that the NIH would insert reasonable pricing requirements into deals with commercial drugmakers.