Antonio Ciaccia

This drug pricing distortion was supposed to go extinct. It’s never been more alive. — 46brooklyn Research This summer, we launched a new research work that examined the costs yielded by a reborn and evolved species of the prescription drug supply chain: drug companies who are also part of larger vertica...

I will give you an 80% discount off the price of your cup of coffee.

Sounds great, right?

Let's sign a contract where all your coffee purchases go through me, and I will honor that 80% discount every time.

BTW, I also set the price of that coffee.

Cigna Unit Sells Generic Drugs at Higher Prices, Report Says A little-known Cigna Group subsidiary that sells generic drugs charges prices that skew higher than many competing suppliers, according to a new analysis that raises questions about the company’s role...

PBMs say they want low list prices for drugs.

Their new affiliated private label drug companies now have the power to do it themselves.

Instead, the generic prices are on average 33 times higher than the lowest in the market.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Mark Cuban is trying to shake up biosimilar pricing with a version of J&J's best-selling Stelara drug In its bid to shake up drug pricing, the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company has reached a deal to sell a biosimilar version of Stelara, a widely prescribed treatment.

Everyone says they want low drug prices until actual low drug prices show up.

(except patients)

@costplusdrugs.com @mcuban.bsky.social @alexosh.bsky.social @drugchannels.bsky.social @pharmalot.bsky.social www.statnews.com/pharmalot/20...

UnitedHealth pays its own physician groups 17% more than outside ones, study shows The findings are similar to an analysis STAT conducted, and raise questions about why UnitedHealth pays its doctors more.

You don’t say?

After bailing on Ohio and Michigan, Rite Aid closes completely  • Ohio Capital Journal A wave of pharmacy closures in Ohio and elsewhere appears to be deepening. Once the third-largest pharmacy chain in the United States, Rite Aid announced on its website that all of its stores are now ...

From Big 3 to just zero: Rite Aid is officially reduced to ashes as pharmacy market attrition rolls on @martyschladen.bsky.social ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/10/13/a...

Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss Episode Summary In this episode of RealPharma , hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down…

“Soaking high drug prices as a mechanism to lower premiums is neither a wise nor a sustainable practice.”

Acknowledge @repauchincloss.bsky.social 🎙️

www.realpharma.co/where-policy...

What's behind Amazon’s in-person pharmacy play Amazon to install prescription medication dispensing machines at One Medical clinics, starting in Los Angeles this December, marking its first in-person pharmacy presence.

When Amazon makes moves in pharmacy – no matter how seemingly small – you should always be thinking about the long game @nyeungs.bsky.social

endpoints.news/whats-behind...

Exclusive | Trump Excludes Generics From Big Pharma Tariff Plan The administration has been weighing duties for months on a range of products and ingredients in a national-security tariff investigation.

Good news for fans of generic drug affordability 👇

www.wsj.com/health/pharm...

Congress must address the health care cost crisis now Our health care system has a pressing need for greater competition and transparency.

“American businesses should not be left to subsidize the lack of transparency, accountability and fair competition in the health care industry.”

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...

Are generic drug prices going up or down? Depends on which benchmark you ask — 46brooklyn Research For the first time: Year-over-year generic drug price inflation For those unfamiliar, our team at 46brooklyn Research have a thing for tracking prescription drug prices. Not just the prices of d...

The price is the price.

Unless it’s the other price.

Generic drug prices are going up and down – depending on your perspective.

www.46brooklyn.com/research/are...

Will the White House drug-pricing deal lower costs for Americans? Experts are skeptical Will the White House drug-pricing deal lower costs for Americans? Experts are skeptical.

“The immediate stock reaction across the group affirms our view this is more optics than bite.”

Good rundown on yesterday’s Trump/Pfizer rendezvous from @elaineywchen.bsky.social

www.statnews.com/2025/09/30/w...

If you are someone who wants more drug manufacturing in the U.S., this may please you.

If you are someone who wants lower brand drug prices in the U.S., this may tariffy you.

www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Sanofi set to offer insulin products at $35 per month for all US patients French drugmaker Sanofi said on Friday it would offer a month's supply of any of its insulin products for $35 to all patients in the U.S. with a valid prescription, regardless of insurance status.

Look out below!

www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Yeah, that’ll fix it.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

A quarterly-ish review of U.S. drug price changes — 46brooklyn Research As a non-profit, we at 46brooklyn have made it our goal to provide insights into U.S. drug pricing data available in the public domain based upon the figures we are able to get our nerdy hands on. Whi...

There are 281 brand-name drugs with new list prices.

Here are the details.

Another state attorney general digs into drug pricing bloat and dysfunction 👇

www.oag.state.va.us/media-center...

As a long-time fan of his show, it was awesome to join Clay Farris for a discussion about American drug pricing dysfunction.

mostlymedicaid.com/medicaid-con...

UnitedHealth Ongoing Criminal Probe Is Broader Than Medicare The US Justice Department’s criminal division is digging into UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s prescription management services as well as how it reimburses its own doctors under an ongoing probe into the fi...

When it rains, it pours.

Drug innovation should benefit patients. PBMs are preventing that from happening. Health plans should directly contract with drug manufacturers to provide medications at transparent and affordable prices, argues Kathy Chang, head of trade relations at Blue Shield of California.

“The current system is riddled with barriers to innovation, shielded by exclusivity protections and mired in anticompetitive practices — which help ensure high drug prices persist.”

@blueshieldca.bsky.social www.healthcaredive.com/news/drug-in...

Direct-to-Patient Apixaban Program Aims to Expand Access, Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs Apixaban would still cost patients 9 times more through the Eliquis 360 Support program than with commercial insurance.

Potential positives and negatives aside, pharm-to-table is a band-aid on a mortal wound. @aciaccia.bsky.social www.ajmc.com/view/direct-...

CVS unit must pay $290 million in drug whistleblower lawsuit, judge rules A federal judge ordered CVS Health's pharmacy benefit manager unit to pay $289.9 million in damages and penalties after it overcharged Medicare for prescription drugs.

Behold the power of whistleblowers: $289.9 million set to come back to US government and certified G, Sarah Behnke

340B rebate pilot tees up healthcare industry firestorm Drugmakers want to convert 340B discounts to rebates under a federal pilot program set to launch in January. Providers are anxious.

The policy ground is shifting on the 340B program, which means the system's current winners and losers have their eyes on how proposed changes could impact their financial realities

Eli Lilly says it will raise drug prices in Europe to ‘make them lower’ in U.S. Eli Lilly said it would raise drug prices in Europe to "make them lower" in U.S., though the actual impact on most patients abroad remains unclear.

So essentially, the early yield of the push to bring US drug prices in line with other nations is just exporting American drug pricing distortions.

'We're trying to disrupt an industry': Mark Cuban touts pharmacy deal with Giant Eagle Mark Cuban, the billionaire and Western Pennsylvania native now knee-deep in the pharmaceutical industry, offered strong words Wednesday toward the pharmacy benefit managers some say are bleeding drug...

“We’re trying to disrupt an industry that needs disrupted.”

Testify, Mark.

@gianteagle.bsky.social @mcuban.bsky.social @costplusdrugs.com

triblive.com/news/health-...

The PBM Hitman Welcome to the podcast Organized Money.

Had a great discussion with @matthewstoller.bsky.social and @ddayen.bsky.social about PBMs, pharmacies, manufacturers, Medicaid, and how misguided public policies have yielded bloated drug prices and an over-reliance on conflicted intermediaries

www.organizedmoney.fm/p/the-pbm-hi...

How PBMs can use private-labelled drug products as a great escape from anti-steering policies — 46brooklyn Research Across every corner of U.S. healthcare, from end-of-life care to reproductive rights, patient choice sits squarely in the middle of many health policy questions. From a certain point of view, patient ...

Decades after retreating from their former marriages, PBMs are blending their DNA with drug companies once again, this time through private labelling.

Here's what it means for the costs of medicines.

Our latest:

What Options Do Retail Pharmacies Have to Become Profitable? As challenges mount, retail pharmacies that are not affiliated with a PBM or have access to 340B pricing have few options to become profitable.

It's a tough time for pharmacies, but for some, it's not all doom and gloom.

If you are a PBM-affiliated pharmacy or are benefitting from 340B spreads, you are well positioned to weather the current financial storm.

And if you are benefitting from both, enjoy the long ride.

Thanks!

Delta moves toward eliminating set prices in favor of AI that determines how much you personally will pay for a ticket The airline touted a partnership with an AI-enabled revenue system as a step on the road to fully personalized ticket pricing, part of its goal to raise profit margins long-term.

Strongest signs yet that Delta Airlines could be getting into the drug business

fortune.com/2025/07/16/d...

Drugmaker-telehealth deals risk unnecessary prescribing, senators’ probe finds An investigation by Democratic senators has raised concerns about conflicts of interest in telehealth companies' ties to pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Eli Lilly.

In the least surprising news ever, drugmaker financial ties with telehealth companies yields more prescriptions.

Hey senators, what do you think drugmaker financial ties with formulary design yields?

@davidovalle.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...