Instant Insights The Prescription Drug Problem & PBM Reform

More than five dozen lawsuits have been filed against the makers of weight loss drugs.

Pharmacy benefit manager Optum Rx plans to launch Clear Trend Guarantee in 2025 to allow employers and health insurers to more easily manage their drug spending, while creating more predictability for patients around costs.

An Illinois jury sided with drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim in the first trial over Zantac, which the FDA recalled in 2020 over claims the over-the-counter heartburn medication caused cancer.

Patients are being harmed by Express Scripts and other pharmacy benefit managers that prevent them from using their preferred pharmacies, resulting in decreased availability of medications and higher drug prices, say protestors.

"Teva stifled would-be generic competitors to QVAR because the drug laws do not allow for generic substitution of a given drug-device combination unless the generic is approved for that specific drug-device combination," the complaint alleged.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senators accused drugmakers of gaming the system by filing 100+ patents for any given drug, while trade group PhRMA said the system advances "the development of new medicines."

Ozempic, Trulicity and Mounjaro were first approved to treat diabetes, however, in the last three years, the FDA has approved rebranded versions of Mounjaro and Ozempic for weight loss, leading demand – and prices – to skyrocket.

As the drugmaker moves into Phase III studies for survodutide, its new GLP-1 obesity drug, Walgreens will use its community pharmacies as clinical trial sites, aiming to improve access and address equitable health representation.