Broken Crystal Ball. Does the knowledge that RFK Jr might be heading up the Department of Health and Human Services get me any closer to guessing what might happen in the next 2 – 3 years for pharmaceutical health policy? Nope. But it wouldn’t seem like it would be good for innovation. NIH grants? Developing the next generation of scientists? Food and Drug Administration career staff? But we also have the potential for the bromance to fall apart; big egos don’t tend to work together well in the long term.
Double Trouble. Two 340B pieces got my attention this week. First, the Johnson and Johnson lawsuit against the government. So usually 340B-eligible entities purchase drugs at the discounted price but J&J was proposing to have some entities purchase at the regular prices and then file for a rebate. Because when they try to solve for duplicate discounts and do an audit, 340B entities were less than helpful. As stated in the suit, J&J had permission from the government to audit 11 entities. The 340B entities fought the audit with the government and some filed suit challenging the government’s approval of the audits. So yeah, I mean why would J&J want to switch up their model? Seems like there is nothing to see here. The program has grown from <$10B in 2010 to $66B in 2023 and oversight seems minimal. I think the rebate model seems like a great way to get the information needed to look at duplicate discounts. Watching this one. If you don’t want to read the lawsuit (which is great background for someone who wants to learn more about this space), the J&J blog is a good quick read.
The second 340B piece is directly on duplicate discounts. BRG research finds that in 2026 there is the potential for $4 billion in duplicate discounts between the Medicare negotiated products and 340B.
The Gift That Keeps on Giving. Holiday gift guides were everywhere this week. Anyone else notice that ICER is asking to be including in your philanthropic gifts for the year? You could give your coworkers a World Wildlife Foundation donation (highly recommend, very cute stuffed animals) or a donation to ICER! When in doubt, See’s Candies works.