It’s Been a Slow Week. Here Are Some Reasons Why That’s Likely to Change

It’s been a slow week, so it’s probably useful for me to pause for a moment and think about what’s coming. Here’s a short list of the milestones that I’m refreshing browser tabs for: 

The CBO is apparently poised to drop some new thinking on its model for assessing the impact of policy changes on pharmaceutical innovation. It was rumored to be coming last week, but I haven’t seen an updated timeline. 

The IRA-lawsuit news is probably going to come hot and heavy over the next few weeks. The final CMS brief in the Chamber of Commerce case hit this week, meaning the next step there is a hearing or a decision. The Merck case has been in the hands of a judge since November, so it feels like a decision there can’t be too far in the future. There were a couple new briefs on standing in the AstraZeneca case, where AZ is pushing for a decision in the next couple of weeks. And, tomorrow, the parties in the four New Jersey suits are scheduled to give a judge a time and date for an oral argument. So that’s a thing, too. 

The FTC is still working on its big PBM report. Endpoints said yesterday that the agency told them the opus would be out “in the com­ing months.” So not a real precise timeline, but something worth watching. 

I was going to include the World Trade Organization’s meeting later this month, where action was due on the effort to waive IP protections on COVID treatments, but it sounds like that idea has been squashed. So maybe that’s not on the what-to-watch-for list (though I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll hear on the subject).

Lots of coverage (e.g. WSJ, NYT) of the FTC’s announcement that they’re looking at the impact of GPOs and wholesalers on the generic drug market. It strikes me that the conclusion here will be fairly straightforward: these entities are absolutely undermining the fundamental economics of generic medicines. The question is what can or should the FTC do about it? (The other thing I’m curious about: at what point will GPOs really enter the public consciousness and get some additional scrutiny.

The Washington Post spilled some pixels on state efforts to reform prior authorizations, noting that — unlike recent federal efforts — the state efforts include provisions that extend to prior auths on medicines.