Headline writers were kind of phoning it in yesterday. #takeaways

The @washingtonpost.com eddy board has a wildly pro-pharma editorial today. Good to see innovation recognized. wapo.st/4k4Pkx2

@matt-levine.bsky.social nails how I think about video. Like, I don't get the fascination, but it's hard not to see there is demand. So yes, more dumb LinkedIn videos coming.

“This has the feel of a Truth Social post in the form of an executive order.” Big pop @brianreid.bsky.social www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

Is the CMS drug negotiation page down for anyone else?

Props to the Bloomberg photo-captions person.

Thanks to all my wonderful Tufts-CEVR colleagues for putting on another great annual meeting! Proud to work with you! @dano-hta.bsky.social @brianreid.bsky.social @tuftscevr.bsky.social @mollytoba.bsky.social

In terminating hundreds of NIH grants, the Trump administration dumped years of investment down the drain. In my latest @opinion.bloomberg.com column, we analyzed the cancelled projects & talked to scientists to understand just how much the public loses out. It's a lot: tinyurl.com/bdey86su

@endpts.com got ahold of the HHS restructuring document. My angle this morning: endpts.com/cms-would-ab...

Man, there was a lot packed into yesterday's executive order on drug pricing. Here's my effort to get my brain around all of the moving pieces: costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/10-thought...

There’s a lot in this Trump package of drug pricing executive orders, but perhaps what’s most interesting is what’s not in them: No signs of life for ending the safe harbor to anti-kickback laws for drugmaker rebates. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

FDA’s ‘key man’ Peter Marks is out. Biotech investors will now deal with the consequences www.statnews.com/2025/03/30/f...

Not good.

Reading this Paragon report on Medicaid provider taxes, and I have a lot of questions about the art! paragoninstitute.org/medicaid/add...

This is what happens when a $60B+ program has no oversight. Is there anyone involved in #340B that can justify this kind of arrangement?

This is an absolutely incredible story - read it. Its so hard to convey what jobs that look like sitting behind a computer are actually *for*. This is what the FDA is for, and why we all need it, desperately. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

@maya-goldman.bsky.social with a scoop on the fate of a bunch of CMMI projects. Two as-yet-unlaunched drug-price demos got the axe. Probably not a surprise, but clarifying nonetheless. www.axios.com/2025/03/12/m...

Drug-pricing transparency reports used to be a big deal. Are retreats from Novartis (last year) and Novo Nordisk (this year) changing that? From today's Cost Curve: costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/it-s-drug-...

Also a national treasure: @matt-levine.bsky.social.

Joel Stein is a treasure. Also: health care is broken.

Most days, I wake up and write a newsletter with, like, five or six items on drug pricing/policy. Today, 17 different topics caught my eye. 2025 is off to a wild start. costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/there-s-an...

I know the world is on fire, but maybe next week will be less chaotic and you would like a little break to talk drug policy? If so, please join me and Laura Tollen at Health Affairs to talk about the next 15 drugs selected for Medicare negotiation! www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/h...

Heck of a few days on the drug-pricing-and-policy beat. A victory for transparent list prices, a little on tariffs, some Kennedy items, the IRA's impact on pharmacies, and a candidate for headline of the year ... costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/will-the-p...

Looks like if PBMs want to get to know intimate details of my life, they will have to get a pair of binoculars and repeatedly drive around the block like a normal person. www.ftc.gov/system/files...

Love this. @nikillinit.bsky.social nails the #JPM25 ironies.

Interesting survey from Gallup on attitudes about healthcare in the context of the Trump presidency (HT, again, to @brianreid.bsky.social). Do respondents really believe this, or do Ds automatically hate everything Trump, and Rs automatically love everything Trump? news.gallup.com/poll/654704/...

I shared this story about Jimmy Carter on X last year. I'd like to put it here, too. It starts with a reporter's keepsake. These are the notes President Carter handed me after I met him at a $MRK event to celebrate the company's collaboration with the Carter Center to end river blindness. 1/8

At least the murder hornets are gone www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/u...

The benefit design change part of the IRA -- the part that gives beneficiaries the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap in Part D -- is going to cost Pfizer a billion dollars next year. That $500 million in boosted sales, less $1.5 billion in additional responsibilities in the catastrophic phase.

Trump on "middlemen" during his presser today: "I don't know who these middlemen are but they are rich as hell and we're going to knock out the middlemen." Not good news for #pbms! www.youtube.com/live/ZGqwYXn...

Is the IRA impacting R&D decisions? Endpoints polling of biopharm execs suggests that the answer here is a big "yes." Peep the verbatims, too. More evidence that the incentives baked into the law are wreaking real havoc on development. endpts.com/the-endpoint...

There is so much #340B news and content out there right now. I know this probably feels dull to most folks, but -- boy -- 340B is having a *moment.* costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/so-much-34...

Women's Frozen Four tickets go on sale in 15 minutes A full session package for both semifinal games and the championship are just $50! That's an absolute steal of a price. March 21 and 23 at Ridder Arena at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. You should go

Oh my. There was a lot of academic research unpack today on drug pricing. Here's my summary of five papers worth tracking. (And there's another paper or two on the docket tomorrow if you're getting the newsletter.) costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/so-many-re...

Minnesota becomes first state to release report on 340B drug discount program for ‘safety-net’ hospitals.. statnews.com/pharmalot/20... #pharma #biotech #Minnesota #medicines #hospitals #340B

New paper out at @jamacurrent.bsky.social led by @ojwouters.bsky.social on the empirical assumptions underlying differential protection for biologics & small-molecule drugs. Upshot: We found no good evidence supporting differential treatment by FDA (or under IRA). jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Big day in the world of #340B. Minnesota just dropped a report detailing the extent of the 340B program in the state. It shows a lot of money sloshing around, and not necessarily in ways that maximize patient benefit. costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/special-ed...

I am such a fan of the new "Value Flower" paper that refines, defines, and lays out a road map for the way that novel value elements can be used. Such a boon not just to economists but communicators, too. costcurve.beehiiv.com/p/letting-a-...

@wsj.com has an opening for a health reporter. If you're interested in joining a great team and reporting on life-and-death matters involving huge costs, please reach out.

Just for fun: I have a panel of 100k physicians on Twitter/X. I looked at how many of them were posting on X about BlueSky over the past year. The phenomenon is real! #MedSky #MedPharma cc @katesears.bsky.social @katiepalmer.bsky.social More at HealthQuant.com

Any pharmacists, Pass through PBMs , health care professionals out there ? Time to grow the industry and take on big PBMs right here !