Cardinal Health CEO George Barrett is a Rock God

Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and…George Barrett?

Not convinced? Check out the video below, which shows Cardinal Health Chairman and CEO George Barrett onstage at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Roadshow concert.

Highlights include:

• Barrett's harmonizing on CSNY's Woodstock at 1:46

• Barrett's solo (!) cover version of John Mayer’s Gravity at 3:00

Well, at least we know he has the drugs and rock n’ roll covered!

News Roundup, July 2015: CVS Health, Allergan, Specialty Pharmacies, and Amy Schumer

The hot and hazy days of summer are here. Cool off with my refreshing selection of articles that cut through the steamy haze. In this issue:

• A handy primer on CVS Health’s history and strategy

• Allergan’s CEO explains how channel consolidation led to the Teva deal

• The New York Times attacks specialty pharmacies!

Plus, a sizzling update on The Amy Schumer Disappointing Lap Dance $5,000 Matching Challenge for Multiple Sclerosis. Please help me hit our goal by making a tax-deductible donation, and I will make my own donation of $5,000. Thank you!

Pharma’s Bright Future: Meet The Top 10 Drugs of 2020

Let’s review the latest edition of EvaluatePharma’s World Preview 2015, Outlook to 2020. (The document is free with site registration.) This annual report projects for prescription drug sales and R&D activity in the U.S. and abroad.

Below you'll find my handy summary table comparing 2020’s best-selling U.S. drug products with the top sellers of 2014. The report projects that, in 2020, 9 of the 10 best-selling drugs by revenue will be specialty drugs, compared with 3 drugs in 2010 and 7 in 2014.

EvaluatePharma’s predictions seem to downplay biosimilar competition. It still projects that AbbVie’s Humira will stay on top, although Humira's sales are expected to peak in 2017. You may also be surprised by the PCSK9 inhibitor forecasts.

The overall EvaluatePharma projections suggest that net sales of brand-name drugs will grow by almost 8% annually over the next six years. $400 billion will buy a lot of beer.

Value-Based Pricing and Contracting for Biopharmaceuticals

Value-Based Pricing and Contracting for Biopharmaceuticals
October 8-9, 2015 | Philadelphia, PA

The most successful biopharmaceutical pricing strategies are built to accommodate the changes occurring in healthcare today including price pressure from PBMs and payers, new launches of brilliant innovative therapies, lessons learned from the Sovaldi case study and payer restructuring as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

CBI’s groundbreaking Value-Based Pricing and Contracting for Biopharmaceuticals conference covers the evolution of focusing solely on “price” to focusing on the “cost-value” proposition. You won’t want to miss it.

REGISTER TODAY

Drug Channels readers will save $400 off the standard registration rate with code ZJP399.*

Leverage Key Conference Takeaways:

• Value-based pricing — How do you focus development to support price?
• Understand the real reasons why Sovaldi® triggered a firestorm — Looking at the evidence
• Consider product success in the post-Sovaldi® world — Demonstrating real value
• Brainstorm strategies for global price optimization
• Tips for conducting and applying cost effectiveness studies
• Ruminate the “new” health economics — Managing uncertainty at product launch
• Absorb case studies in successfully incorporating market access into the product plan early in development
• Analyze the risk versus reward for key market access investments in your brand
• Prepare for the launch of biosimilars
• Understand the pressure for plans to offer restricted formularies

Join a leading speaking faculty to discuss the issues most critical for success in pricing biopharmaceuticals in a value-based market.

REGISTER TODAY

Visit www.cbinet.com/biopharmpricing for more information. Drug Channels readers will save $400 off the standard registration rate with code ZJP399.*

 *Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rates. Other restrictions may apply.

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Developing a Meaningful Value Proposition for Your Specialty Product

Today’s guest post comes from Gary Rice, RPh, MS, MBA, CSP, Vice President of Clinical Services at Diplomat Pharmacy. Gary provides insights on ways that sales teams can understand and convey a product’s value,not simply its cost. He offers strategies one can use to better understand, measure, and increase a specialty product’s value.

On August 6th at 12 P.M. (EDT), Gary Rice and other experts are coming together for CMR Institute’s webinar, Navigating and Selling in Today’s Specialty Market. They will discuss recent changes in the specialty pharmaceutical market and explore how healthcare sales teams can benefit from these opportunities.

The standard registration fee for the webinar is $149. CMR Institute is offering Drug Channels readers an exclusive opportunity to register for $75 via THIS LINK ONLY. (Please note that registration via the CMRI website requires a $149 registration fee.)

Amy Schumer Gave Me a Lap Dance to Fight MS: Please Help Drug Channels Continue the Fight

Strange but true: I won Universal's TrainWreck Premiere Experience contest benefitting the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. Really.

I got to walk the red carpet with my wife Paula at the New York movie premiere. Amy Schumer, the film's writer and star, also foolishly promised a “disappointing lap dance” to the contest winner.

Well, Ms. Schumer delivered on the dance, as you can see in the photos below. It was as great as you might imagine and not at all disappointing.

To celebrate this experience, I'm raising more money for MS. To make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit THE AMY SCHUMER DISAPPOINTING LAP DANCE $5,000 MATCHING CHALLENGE FOR MS. I will match the first $5,000 with my own personal donation. Thank you for helping me support this worthwhile cause. (Bonus: There's a short video of Amy and me on the donation site!)

Read on for more photos from my surreal visit to a Hollywood movie premiere.

National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) Annual Meeting & Expo

National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP) Annual Meeting & Expo
Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention Center
National Harbor, MD | September 29 – October 1, 2015

The NASP Annual Meeting & Expo is the one, comprehensive national meeting for all stakeholders in the specialty pharmacy industry. Join the leaders of specialty pharmacy as they gather for the 2015 NASP Annual Meeting, September 29-October 1, at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention Center ten miles outside Washington, DC.

This year’s NASP meeting includes 22 education sessions in a compact, two-day format, over eight hours of exhibit and networking time, social events, and updates on national policy issues facing specialty pharmacy.

Adam J. Fein, Ph.D., will lead the opening plenary session with his keynote The State of Specialty Pharmacy 2015, followed by an expert reactor panel.

Register at the NASP Annual Meeting & Expo registration center. 

Register before August 28 for special pricing!

Management Sessions at NASP 2015 include:

• The Payer-Manufacturer Interface
• Wall Street View of Specialty Pharmacy
• Setting the Proper Expectations: What Health Plans and Employers Want from Specialty Pharmacy
• Data Building Blocks—HUB Building & Real World Data with Hepatitis C Outcomes
• Accreditation in Specialty Pharmacy—Critical First Steps Towards Quality
• Fair Market Value—The OIG’s Perspective and Setting Policy
• Rengenerative Medicine: New Opportunities for Specialty Pharmacy

Clinical Sessions include:

• Oral Oncology—Agents in Specialty Practice and Patient Management Considerations
• HIV—Agents in Specialty Practice and Patient Management Considerations
• Hepatitis C—A Clinical Review with a Focus on Patient Management
• PD-1s: Clinical Information and Patient Management

The meeting closes with a capstone session titled “Biosimilars: The Marketing is Open.”

Don’t forget to make your hotel reservations. Discounted room rates are available to NASP attendees on the NASP website.

Interested in visibility opportunities for your company at the NASP Annual Meeting?

NASP Annual Meeting Attendees are CEOs, pharmacy directors, and executives from the nation’s leading specialty pharmacies as well as pharmacy directors and executives from PBMs, health plans, health system pharmacies, GPOs, distributors, and more.

Sponsorship gives your company visibility to those influential audiences. For additional information about sponsorship or exhibiting, see the NASP website or contact NASP staffers Virginia Sweeter (Virginia.Sweeter@cadre-resources.com) or Robert Fulcher (rfulcher@naspnet.org).

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

How 2015’s Payer and Pharmacy Consolidation Will Affect Drug Wholesalers

It has been a record year for corporate mergers and acquisitions. Aetna’s recently-announced acquisition of Humana is just the latest of the many mega deals reshaping U.S. drug channels

Today, I examine how six major 2015 transactions could impact pharmaceutical wholesalers. As you will see below, both McKesson and Cardinal Health could experience revenue shifts. Consolidation and acquisitions, however, generally hurt wholesalers’ margins, because the acquired companies consolidate their buying power.

Scott Adams, the creator of the comic strip Dilbert, once opined: “There is no idea so bad that it cannot be made to look brilliant with the proper application of fonts and color.” Sound advice for evaluating deals in this consolidating marketplace.

More than One in Four U.S. Pharmacies is Now a 340B Contract Pharmacy; Walgreens Still Dominates

The pharmacy industry’s 340B Drug Pricing Program cash grab continues.

Our latest analysis finds that 17,000 pharmacy locations contract with a 340B-eligible covered entity (usually a hospital). Walgreens remains the biggest player, although Walmart, CVS, and Rite Aid collectively now account for about one-quarter of contract pharmacy locations.

Since we first deeply examined contract pharmacies, two years ago, they have grown by 4,600 locations (+37%). Specialty pharmacies’ participation also is up sharply.

These relationships threaten to disrupt third-party payers’ pharmacy networks and confound manufacturers’ channel strategies. The new GAO report provides further evidence of problems. Let’s hope that the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) upcoming mega-guidance finally enacts some rules to govern this out-of-control expansion.

Ensure Compliance on Government Program Mandates at IIR’s MDRP Summit

IIR’s Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Summit
September 30 - October 2, 2015 | Chicago, IL

Don’t miss out on this year’s IIR’s MDRP Summit! This is the one event that will provide insights into the implications of the inevitable operational changes due to the impending release of the AMP Final Rule, 340B Mega Guidance and Proposed Rule, HRSA's Rule on Dispute Resolution, along with the recent release of CMS's  Proposed Medicaid Managed Care Regulation.

Get your questions answered, gain clarity and remain compliant this September 30 - October 2 in Chicago at THE largest MDRP event, where 550+ industry, state, and federal government professionals come to share information and get updated on regulatory issues.

This is your opportunity to benchmark best practices and gain solutions to overcome new operational challenges brought on by AMP Final Rule, 340B, Medicaid Expansion, Class of Trade, Fair Market Value, FSS, VA, OIG, and other critical government programs.

Register Now to SAVE $100 off the Current Rate!

Use Priority Code XP2058DRUG

Ensure you have the most comprehensive educational experience over three days with unparalleled access to government officials creating regulatory rules, the industry leaders interpreting them, and the pharmaceutical executives implementing them.

Download the Brochure Here for Full Agenda and Speaker Details

Collaborate with your peers and benchmark best industry practices to:

• Navigate Regulatory Hurdles
• Understand and comply with state processes, operations and requirements
• Address the impact of AMP Final Rule, 340B Guidance, along with State Policy changes
• Minimize Wasted Resources
• Develop strategies to streamline pricing and reporting
• Hear from the industry's leading service providers as they showcase new technologies and products to improve operations
• Optimize Finances
• Calculate liability and improve accuracy and accountability
• Discover the latest in Automation & Customization of finance systems

The MDRP Chicago Summit has anticipated what manufacturers are dealing with on a day-to-day basis and provides essential content you won’t find anywhere else.

Download the brochure to see why this is THE place to be in September. Stay ahead of the curve by getting the best networking, education, and technology at IIR's MDRP Summit.

Click Here to Register Now and SAVE $100 off the current rates.

Be sure to use Priority Code: XP2058DRUG

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The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Diplomat Shows Specialty Pharmacy’s Profits and Infusion’s Promise (rerun)

I’m taking a break from blogging this week and rerunning some popular posts from early 2015. Click here to see the original post and comments from March 2015.

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Diplomat Pharmacy, the largest independent specialty pharmacy, recently released its 2014 10-K SEC filing. (Regular readers know how much I enjoy these corporate filings.)

Diplomat is the only public company (and the only specialty pharmacy) to report its per-prescription gross profits and gross margins. As you will see below, both of these financial metrics grew in 2014. Diplomat’s impressive results are a powerful counterpoint to the argument that specialty pharmacy margins are being squeezed.

Diplomat recently acquired BioRx, its third specialty infusion purchase. My calculations indicate that specialty infusion will now account for almost half of Diplomat’s profits.

Fascinating.

OptumRx Sails Away with Catamaran: Deal Analysis and Industry Implications (rerun)

I’m taking a break from blogging this week and rerunning some popular posts from early 2015. Click here to see the original post and comments from March 2015. P.S. This is one of my favorites from 2015!

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Yesterday, UnitedHealthcare, which operates the OptumRx pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), announced its acquisition of PBM Catamaran. Read the press release.

Catamaran has long been considered a likely acquisition target in the consolidating PBM business. Yet I was surprised by the timing and the buyer. UnitedHealthcare will pay a 27% premium, which will probably deter potential bidders.

Below, I review the impact on PBMs, manufacturers, wholesalers, and pharmacies. I also consider how the deal will affect the larger companies.

Sadly, Catamaran’s exit will leave the industry high and dry on nautical metaphors…but not before today’s post docks.

Walgreens Boots Alliance: Analysis of its New U.S. Pharmacy Strategy (rerun)

I’m taking a break from blogging this week and rerunning some popular posts from early 2015. Click here to see the original post and comments from April 2015 Today's rerun is a good primer for WBA's earnings call tomorrow..

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Last week, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) held its first analyst day as a combined company. Click here to download the slides and transcripts. (More detailed links below.)

WBA is a complex, global business with three major divisions and annual revenues of nearly $125 billion. Hence, the analyst “day” was a 2-day, 12 hour affair in which management presented 282 slides and generated a 125 page transcript!

Never fear, Drug Channels reader. I scoured every ounce of this material to find you the most valuable kernels. Below, I highlight my observations about WBA’s Retail Pharmacy USA division, a.k.a. Walgreens. My themes include the U.S. businesses’ changing focus, hypercompetition in the pharmacy industry, payer relationships, specialty pharmacy strategy, previous management’s missteps, and more. Read on for the sweet and salty details.

What Gilead’s Big Hepatitis C Discounts Mean for Biosimilar Pricing (rerun)

I’m taking a break from blogging this week and rerunning some popular posts from early 2015. Click here to see the original post and comments from February 2015. Unfortunately for the manufacturers about to launch PCSK9 inhibitors, this artcle is also relevant to those products.

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This week, Gilead Sciences reported blockbuster 2014 results for its hepatitis C products Sovaldi and Harvoni. Read the press release. However, Wall Street freaked out when Gilead disclosed that its payer discounts are much larger than many people had assumed—more than 50% off list in some cases. (See the numbers below).

These unexpectedly large price cuts provide more evidence that competition gives payers enormous power, even when purchasing differentiated, highly valuable therapies. Imagine what will happen as biosimilar versions of top-selling biological drugs hit the market over the next few years.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But for the manufacturers developing biosimilars and those defending biological products, it’s probably time to lower revenue projections.

Express Scripts New Trend O’ Drugs Report: Price Without Value (rerun)

I’m taking a break from blogging this week and rerunning some popular posts from early 2015. Click here to see the original post and comments from March 2015.

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Last week, Express Scripts released its new 2014 Drug Trend Report. Click here to download the complete report. (Free download.)

As always, there are valuable data here on drug trend (the change in a third-party payer’s prescription drug expenditures). Below, I analyze the highlights for traditional and specialty drugs, including the impact of new hepatitis C therapies.

In one of his plays, clever Irishman Oscar Wilde defined a cynic as “a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” After reading this report, I wonder if Express Scripts has become a wee bit too cynical about the value of pharmaceutical innovation. Read on and see if you agree.