Brand drug launch prices: A game of perspective

Ben LinkMarch 9, 2023Rebates, Launch, drug prices, Brand drugs, Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare, Lyrica, WAC, Adbry, Firazyr, Zolgensma, Trikafta, CPI, List prices

Two new dashboards released to assist with drug shortage research

Ben LinkMarch 19, 2020COVID-19, China, India, FDA, Drug shortages, drug prices, NADAC, Omeprazole, Medicaid, Prilosec, Lisinopril, Epclusa, sofosbuvir, naproxen, hydrocodone, ranitidine, hydroxychloroquine

The hidden midyear 2019 price increases on brand name drugs

This summer, there was extensive media coverage on a large number of price increases on brand-name prescription drugs. However, when we examined CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) drug pricing data, we noticed that there were not many price increases at all. We had a hunch that the NADAC file must have been missing some of the price increases, so we dug into the data and discovered that it was missing prices on hundreds of drugs – many of which are specialty drugs. This report examines the limitations of our favorite publicly-available drug pricing benchmark, and how that benchmark can be improved to provide even better accountability to the drug supply chain.

Ben LinkAugust 22, 2019drug prices, WAC, NADAC, Specialty, Pharmacy

A new (free) tool to help track drug price changes

The start of each new year brings a lot of “new-ness,” including a new round of price increases on brand-name drugs. This year has been no exception, and the media has been all over the subject. Unfortunately, we’ve found it difficult to figure out the “so what?” behind all of these price increases. On one hand, we are being told that the pharmaceutical manufacturers are back to “business as usual,” while on the other we are being told that the number of price increases are down meaningfully from last year. Which one is it? This felt like an opportunity to inject a healthy dose of facts into this discussion. So we set out to build a dashboard, 46brooklyn’s Brand Drug Price Change Box Score, that lets you visualize all brand-name manufacturer list price changes that are publicly-reported each week, drill down to the manufacturer and drug level, strength level, and compare and contrast different periods.

Ben LinkJanuary 21, 2019List prices, Rebates, drug prices, PBM, Drug companies, NADAC, Allergan, Mylan, EpiPen, Medicaid, Pfizer

Analyzing HHS’ 100 Days of Action report

In August, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released a special report highlighting the Trump administration’s progress on lowering drug prices for Americans. The HHS report, which focused on the first 100 days since the administration released its American Patients First blueprint, claimed to have achieved less brand-name drug price increases and more drug price decreases than the same period in 2017. While this is great to hear, we wanted to learn more about what this means for consumers. This 46brooklyn report highlights where the Trump administration seems to be making headway, where things still seem incomplete, and why despite any progress made on list prices, it may not mean that spending on prescription drugs has declined.