It’s The Prices, Stupid! | Covid Headaches | Potato Reproduction

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Nearly twenty years ago, a group of health economists published a paper titled “It’s The Prices, Stupid” that went on to explain why the United States spent more money on healthcare than any other industrialized country. Whelp, prices continue to be a major problem. If Medicare swapped brand-name prescription drugs for generic versions, it would save the federal program $1.7 billion a year, according to a new study. Pharmacists dispensed 8.5 million brand-name drugs even when they were generic alternatives available, Forbes contributor Misha Gajewski reports. There are some specific instances where a patient or doctor may specifically choose a brand name drug for effectiveness reasons, but a big challenge is just changing people’s attitudes towards generics. 

A novel biologic that recently completed Phase 3 trials showed it could reduce severe asthma attacks by 50%, according to Forbes contributor Nina Shapiro. This is hardly an outlier, which raises the question: Why don’t biosimilars and speciality generics get more traction in the market when they can offer similar efficacy at lower prices? Forbes contributor Joshua Cohen explores one of the complicated culprits: so-called rebate walls. This is when branded pharma manufacturers offer “all or nothing” volume-based rebates, which means health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers have to drive all patients to those drugs or risk losing a significant chunk of change. 

Any questions? Send me an email at kjennings@forbes.com.

The traditional approach to developing new drugs is to focus on a single target—a molecule within the body that is essential for a disease to take hold. Hitting this target is one of the main ways that new medicines are discovered. Cambridge-based Cellarity is developing a new approach to fight disease. Rather than look for single drug targets, it aims to use its platform to look at how whole cells are impacted when someone is sick. By understanding these effects, the company aims to develop treatments that can impact diseases in a more comprehensive way. 

Noteworthy

Vaping marijuana may be worse for teenage lungs than cigarettes, according to a new study. 

Cigna’s Evernorth healthcare services business is buying telehealth provider MDLive.

Health insurer Highmark completed a deal with HealthNow to become the fourth-largest Blue Cross plan in the country. 

Coronavirus Updates

After a big drop in cases, global Covid-19 cases are beginning to rise again. The World Health Organization is warning against countries that might be relaxing masking and social distancing protocols In the U.S. the same problem is occurring -- states including Texas and Mississippi have relaxed restrictions and mask mandates, a move that President Biden slammed as “neanderthal thinking.” 

In other coronavirus news:

Johnson & Johnson announced a new partnership with Merck to produce more than 100 million Covid-19 vaccines by June. 

Meet the scientists that warned last year of how Covid-19 could mutate into new variants. 

How much Covid-19 news should you share with kids? Experts weigh in. 

Across Forbes

• Don’t Blame Mr. Potato Head: What You Didn’t Know About The Gender Of Your Spud

• Why High Achievement Cultures Can Kill A Love Of Learning

• Rumbling Reykjanes Volcano In Iceland Could Erupt At Any Minute

What Else We Are Reading

• The Trump administration quietly spent billions in hospital funds on Operation Warp Speed (STAT)

• Senate panel deadlocks on advancing Biden's pick for health secretary (POLITICO)

• Why Virus Variants Have Such Weird Names (The New York Times)