Drug Approvals Bounce Back as R&D Labs Churn Out New Winners

Today we're bringing you a recent article out of Reuters Health that address the number of new drugs approved in the United States and Europe bouncing back.

Ben Hirschler writes, "John LaMattina, a former research head for Pfizer and a board member at PureTech Health, is unsurprised by the rebound and believes concerns raised at the end of 2016 about deteriorating drug pipelines were "far too dire".

Hirschler also notes that drugmakers are getting smarter about the way they're developing medicines by shifting from mass market product to high dollar therapies. 

To learn more on this topic, please read the full article HERE!

Performance Pharmacy Solutions (PPS) is a unique pharmacy benefit procurement platform developed by HORIZON Health Ventures to efficiently and effectively place, manage and oversee our self-funded client's pharmacy benefit management programs. The PPS platform provides turnkey solutions with proven market-leading PBM partners that offer, on average, 10-15% savings.

PBM's Specialty Rx Costs Soar Despite Lower Trend

Today's blog highlights the recent Employee Benefit Adviser article that highlights one of the largest PBM's has shaved their drug trend to its lowest point in four years.

Bruce Shutan writes, "CVS Caremark’s overall drug pricing and usage trend fell to an average of 3.2% last year from 5.0% in 2015 with the help of price protection, return of more than 90% of overall rebates, use of generics and targeted approaches. Other bright spots include 38% of commercial customers actually achieving a negative trend and out-of-pocket costs for members decreasing 3% during this period." 

To learn more on this topic, please read the full article HERE!

Performance Pharmacy Solutions (PPS) is a unique pharmacy benefit procurement platform developed by HORIZON Health Ventures to efficiently and effectively place, manage and oversee our self-funded client's pharmacy benefit management programs. The PPS platform provides turnkey solutions with proven market-leading PBM partners that offer, on average, 10-15% savings.

Potential Impact of the AHCA on OTC's

Today we're bringing you an interesting article out of Pharmacy Times that highlights the potential impact that the new health care bill will have on future over-the-counter medications. Shelby Lehny writes that about 81% of adults use OTC's for minor ailments. Unfortunately, many OTC's are very expensive and not covered by insurance, making minor ailments cost almost an arm and a leg. The AHCA has the potential to solve this problem in making OTC's more accessible and affordable.

Lehny explains, "The Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on health flexible spending accounts (FSA), health savings accounts (HSAs), and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) would be repealed by the AHCA, making OTC medications more affordable to patients."

Check out the full article HERE! 

Performance Pharmacy Solutions (PPS) is a unique pharmacy benefit procurement platform developed by HORIZON Health Ventures to efficiently and effectively place, manage and oversee our self-funded client's pharmacy benefit management programs. The PPS platform provides turnkey solutions with proven market-leading PBM partners that offer, on average, 10-15% savings.

Can Value-Based Deals Work if Patients Don't Take the Drug?

Today we're bringing you an article out of BioPharma DIVE that highlights the concept of value-based price contract that links cost to how well a drug actually works. Value-based agreements can come in many different shapes but all share the same idea of risk sharing.

Ned Pagliarulo writes, "Typically under these deals, a drugmaker will agree to a higher rebate or discount if a drug fails to works as advertised. If a drug performs better than expected, however, the rebate or discount given to the payer would be less, and therefore the drug would have a higher net price."

To take a closer look, read the full article HERE!

Performance Pharmacy Solutions (PPS) is a unique pharmacy benefit procurement platform developed by HORIZON Health Ventures to efficiently and effectively place, manage and oversee our self-funded client's pharmacy benefit management programs. The PPS platform provides turnkey solutions with proven market-leading PBM partners that offer, on average, 10-15% savings.

Aspirin: Extending Lives of Those With Cancer

Today we're bringing you an eye-opening article out of Pharmacy Times that highlights findings 28 years in the making - that Aspirin is helping to prevent certain cancers with prolonged use. And those that have already been diagnosed with cancer? Aspirin has been proved to extend those lives by 50% in certain cancers as well.

Be sure to read the full article HERE for more information and important facts to note.

Performance Pharmacy Solutions (PPS) is a unique pharmacy benefit procurement platform developed by HORIZON Health Ventures to efficiently and effectively place, manage and oversee our self-funded client's pharmacy benefit management programs. The PPS platform provides turnkey solutions with proven market-leading PBM partners that offer, on average, 10-15% savings.

Guiding Providers' Prescribing Practices

Rachel Arnt of Modern Healthcare recently reported about new technology that allows doctors to choose medication for their patients based upon their medical history and insurance coverage. Arnt explains that RxRevu is allowing doctors to customize this decision through RxCheck, their prescription decision-support platform.

"RxCheck brings together two critical pieces of information: clinical information and insurance information," said Carm Huntress, CEO of RxRevu, the Denver company he founded in 2013. Information tailored to each patient can reduce clinical variability. "We're helping providers make more informed decisions," Huntress said. "This is driving safety and efficacy."

Learn more about this new technology HERE! 

Performance Pharmacy Solutions (PPS) is a unique pharmacy benefit procurement platform developed by HORIZON Health Ventures to efficiently and effectively place, manage and oversee our self-funded client's pharmacy benefit management programs. The PPS platform provides turnkey solutions with proven market-leading PBM partners that offer, on average, 10-15% savings.