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THE ARC/ Whereabouts Survey Results
I appreciate everyone who filled out the survey on the conferences worth getting on an airplane for. Here are the quick takeaways:
Asembia was the event that came up most often: 50% of respondents said they’d go.
AMCP came next: 45% of respondents said they’d be headed to Houston at the end of the month.
The secretive PCMA Business Forum and Adam Fein’s Drug Channels event will both attract about a third of the power users who responded, with ISPOR next in line.
The other conferences — J.P. Morgan, BIO, HLTH, HIMSS, AHIP — seemed like they hit a more targeted audience. And only one of you copped to be an SXSW-goer, which helped vanquish any FOMO I might have had about missing brisket this week.
The “other conferences” question added a huge number of additional events to the list — more than three dozen — but only the National Alliance’s gathering was mentioned by more than one of you. You all have broad tastes!
So what does this mean? Well, I’ll probably try to make it to either Asembia or AMCP in 2026 (I’m too old to brave back-to-back events). It means I’m excited to head to Miami next week to see many of you.
I’ll almost certainly make it to BIO this year. HLTH feels like a no-go. #JPM26 is still up in the air. I fear I’ll be conflicted again, but skipping it this year didn’t sting as badly as I expected. The fact that it’s not a must-attend for so many of you is telling.
Of course, looking at all of these events, they’re really stacked up, and we’re the thick of it. Lots of air travel for lots of you. I hope you get the whole row to yourself.
QUICK TURNS/ Back to 340B Stories, Mostly
I’ve managed to avoid making the newsletter mostly about 340B, but I suspect that we’re about to see another mini-deluge of 340B stories. It feels like it’s time. In fact …
Here’s heartwarming story about a Michigan pharmacy that’s doing so well that they bought a $100,000+ robot. Does this mean that retail pharmacy is once again thriving? Hardly: The robot-buying pharmacy is associated with a 340B covered entity. The other pharmacy in the community — a Rite Aid — closed. 340B status is hugely predictive of what health care enterprises can survive. That might be OK if the program was thoughtfully constructed and overseen, but …
While we’re on the subject, here is an analysis of social media conversations about 340B by storyful. It’s hugely interesting, breaking down 340B posts on Twitter and Reddit by topic and timing. It’s also mostly useless because it sources garbage data. Twitter is an unreliable, bot-filled hellscape. Reddit is a great place to discuss East Coast skiing, luggage, and Costco.
Click anywhere else at your own risk. In other words, there isn’t a lot of serious policy discussions on those platforms. That said … the findings illuminate the way that 340B is being twisted and weaponized in dark corners of the internet in ways that make serious reform harder, not easier.
This is important work from Gigi Hirsch, Sharon Phares, and Peter Neumann over at Health Affairs Forefront. Their piece argues for “systems thinking” in drug value assessment, rather than looking at drug value in a vacuum. The best part of the piece, for my money, is the intro, where the authors detail some noteworthy examples — PCSK9s, hep C — where a lack of systems thinking warped (for the worse) the adoption of some groundbreaking technologies.
Cost Curve is produced by Reid Strategic, a consultancy that helps companies and organizations in life sciences communicate more clearly and more loudly about issues of value, access, and pricing. We offer a range of services, from strategic planning to tactical execution, designed to shatter the complexity that hampers constructive conversations.
To learn more about how Reid Strategic can help you, email Brian Reid at brian@reidstrategic.com.
