Pharmalittle: We’re reading about rejection of an AbbVie Parkinson’s drug, PBM markups on mail order, and more

Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, especially since the middle of the week is upon us. After all, we have made it this far, so we are determined to hang on for another couple of days. And why not? The alternatives — at least those we can identify — are not so appetizing. And what better way to make the time fly than to keep busy. So grab that cup of stimulation and get started. Our flavor today is mocha hazelnut, for those tracking our habits. Now, though, the time has come to get busy. So please grab your own cup and dig in to the items of interest assembled below. We hope you have a wonderful day, and please do keep in touch. …

For the second time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declined to approve an AbbVie therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease due to problems at a third-party manufacturer, Reuters writes. The company maintained that the agency had not identified issues with the therapy’s safety or efficacy and did not request additional trials. The therapy is a version of carbidopa-levodopa, the standard of care for the disease. It is administered subcutaneously, or under the skin, through an infusion pump in order to improve patients’ motor functions. If approved, analysts estimate $619.67 million in sales for ABBV-951 in 2026, according to LSEG data.

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U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) wants the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate why a low-cost generic cancer drug is not widely available to patients, The Hill reports. In a letter sent to the agency, Rosen questioned why Medicare patients pay $3,000 a month for abiraterone, a generic oral drug used as part of prostate cancer treatment, when a version that costs $171 is also on the market. The drug is sold by CivicaScript, a nonprofit that works with manufacturers to develop a drug and then partners with insurers, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers to sell it to patients at a fraction of the price it would cost otherwise.

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