Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. The skies are clear, the sun is shining, and all sorts of birds are chirping outside our window. What better way to celebrate than with a cup of stimulation? So we are firing up the coffee kettle and reaching into the cupboard for orange cream. As always, you are invited to join us. Meanwhile, here are a few tidbits to get you going. We hope you have a meaningful and pleasant day. And of course, do keep in touch. We have adjusted our settings to accept postcards and telegrams. …
Medicare unveiled the results of the program’s first 10 drug price negotiations and estimated that if the prices for all of the medicines had been in effect in 2023, the U.S. government program would have saved $6 billion overall, which would have been a 22% reduction, STAT tells us. But administration officials said they could not release drug-by-drug savings numbers, and the structure of the program will be different when the new prices actually go into effect. The new prices provide a benchmark for future iterations of the program and more information for companies and investors looking to fund the development of new medicines. They also mark the Biden administration’s only negotiation cycle before the White House changes hands in January.
Eli Lilly sent letters to U.S. doctors demanding they stop promoting copycat weight loss drugs as supply of its brand-name medicines improves, Bloomberg News reports. The cease-and-desist letters went to telehealth companies, wellness centers, medical spas, and brick-and-mortar clinics, telling them to stop the “manufacture, promotion, and/or sale” of compounded versions of Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound. Surging demand for Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drugs has prompted numerous sellers to offer compounded versions at lower prices. Lilly and Novo previously sued more than three dozen spas, clinics, and compounding pharmacies.
