MedCity Influencers, BioPharma, Policy

Where Hillary & Co. have it wrong. Three reasons biopharmaceutical manufacturers are not the bogeymen many believe them to be.

The manufacturers seldom get credit for things they are doing right to the benefit to all concerned.

Biopharmaceutical manufacturers have been taking it on the chin lately as prices continue to skyrocket. The battery continues as candidates vying for their respective party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential campaign take their positions. As Chris Seper reported via Matthew Herper at Forbes, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both identified the biopharmaceutical industry as their proudest enemies.

While it is true that improved alignment among all members of the continuum: biopharmaceutical manufacturers, PBMs, payers and pharmacists is needed to improve access to, and value for, high cost specialty therapies, the manufacturers seldom get credit for things they are doing right to the benefit to all concerned. Here are three.

  • New programs specifically designed to improve adherence and outcomes.

AbbVie, manufacturer of Humira, provides its “Humira Ambassadors” program, which is  designed to affect positive outcomes for disease states aligned with the drug’s indications. It provides supplemental education, including appropriate injection techniques, access assistance (including copay assistance for some patients) and other support such as medication reminders.

AbbVie sponsored a study in April 2015, where the sample included patients aged 18 years or older with a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis. The study abstract, published in the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy, found that the program:

  • Lowered 12-month medical cost by 23% associated with patients using PSP.
  • Lowered disease-related medical cost for PSP patients by 22%.
  • Lowered total costs for patients enrolled in the PSP program by 10%.

Biopharmaceutical manufacturers would be wise to include medication management programs and specialty pharmacies proven to improve adherence and outcomes in their limited distribution networks. These already exist – including Curant Health’s C The Cure program for hepatitis C patients – and can be leveraged at little to no cost to the manufacturers.

  • 340B support and other discount pricing programs.

In my experience and recent conversations, biopharmaceutical manufacturers see the value and are happy to support the 340B drug pricing program, which provides discounts to covered entities serving patient populations, many of whom with infectious diseases like HIV and hepatitis C, would otherwise go without care. The primary point of contention biopharmaceutical manufacturers have with 340B is the absence of guidance and clarity in the way covered entities access discounted pricing for critical therapies. However new omnibus guidance from HRSA for 340B is a step in the right direction.

Manufacturers also provide a plethora of discount pricing and co-pay assistance programs accessible to millions of patients. Many argue that these programs are not as robust as they should be. In the new value-based world of tiered access, this is debatable. It is true that these programs are not always easy to find, nor do enough prescribers or pharmacists make this known to patients, but they are available.

  • Cures for chronic conditions. Not just therapies, cures!

In the not-so-distant past, the capability of a biopharmaceutical manufacturer to develop hepatitis C cure through a single pharmaceutical therapy was considered unlikely. And yet it is has happened. While real world data appears to indicate cure rates for patients on the latest hep C cure enabling drugs may not meet the published clinical trial hep C cure rates, Gillead’s Harvoni® and Sovaldi® are actually curing people of hepatitis C. This is an absolutely amazing development. The $94,500 cost for a 12 week course of Harvoni for a hep C cure versus a $500,000+ liver transplant (assuming certain factors) is a value based outcome over cost result that is easy to understand.

While value propositions for new maintenance therapies like PCSK9 inhibitors will be more difficult to validate, it might be time to slow our collective roll on the incessant bashing of biopharmaceutical manufacturers.

Photo: Getty Images


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Marc O'Connor

Marc O’Connor is chief operating officer of Curant Health, a medication therapy management firm focused on improving outcomes for people living with chronic diseases including HIV, Hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and more. He is a member of the board of directors of Team Type 1 Foundation which is focused on increasing awareness and support for Type 1 diabetic patients around the world. More info:Curant Health

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