pain
The backstory to Vertex's experimental non-opioid painkiller
The quest for non-opioid painkillers has been pretty bleak — until now, perhaps. Early next year, Vertex Pharmaceuticals will release late-stage trial data of a drug that blocks pain-sensing neurons from signaling the brain. The drug's being tested in post-surgical pain, as well as in diabetic patients with chronic nerve pain. If the studies are successful, Vertex is looking to win approval for the small molecule drug, dubbed VX-548, to treat moderate to severe acute pain. Analysts think it has blockbuster potential, with estimates that sales might reach as much as $5 billion by 2030.
Vertex has been developing this experimental drug for decades. It's a long, winding story that involves Nobel Prize-winning proteins that glow and a 10-year-old Pakistani street performer who felt no pain.
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drug prices
ICER lays out cases of price hikes without justification
Last year, costs spiked for eight common medicines without any valid rationale — leading to $1.2 billion in extra costs to patients and insurers. AbbVie is responsible for the biggest spike: The wholesale cost for its blockbuster inflammation drug Humira rose 7.1% — leading to an additional $386 million spent on this drug, according to a new ICER report. Second in line was Johnson & Johnson's multiple myeloma drug Darzalex, whose wholesale cost rose 6.8%, leading to $248 million more in spending. And third is Pfizer's breast cancer drug Ibrance, whose wholesale price rose 6.9% and resulted in $151 in additional spending.
"We continue to see list price increases above inflation for many of the most costly drugs," ICER chief medical officer David Rind said, adding that "many had no substantial new evidence to support such price increases."
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