“A new report from Matrix Global Advisors and the National Business Group on Health, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, shows that employers could see substantial savings from biosimilars, but those savings won’t come without a concerted effort to encourage biosimilar use.”
“Peter B. Bach, MD, a well-known critic of high drug prices, along with Jennifer A. Ohn, MPH, Preston Atteberry, MD, and Mark Trusheim, MSc, first wrote in April that biosimilar competition is an economically inefficient way to achieve the goal of lower prices; the biosimilar environment is different than the one that exists in the generic marketplace for small-molecule drugs. These authors said, instead, that biosimilars are natural monopolies and as such need price regulation in order for them to succeed and for prices to come down.”
“I think its a solid [GDP] number. Obviously the inventory piece creates a little bit of volatility and the investment numbers are a disappointment, but not a surprise. Overall we see a strong consumers. On the Fed, I would agree with Austin. What the Fed has to do now more than ever is try to block out the political noise, focus on the data and make the best call to boost their credibility or sustain their credibility.”
“Would legislators take the opportunity to redo some parts of the BPCIA, if they had the chance? Both [Alex] Brill and Hayes said while that, too, is theoretically possible—such as shortening the period of patent exclusivity or changing other aspects of the patent dance—the danger is that it would then get stuck in the quagmire of politics.”
“Brand-name medicines’ market exclusivity periods have climbed an average of 2.2 years since the mid-1990s, steadily delaying the market arrival of generic rivals. Reversing that trend alone could save the U.S. health care system roughly $31.7 billion, according to a Matrix report commissioned by the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs, a group of insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and large employers.”
Today, Brill discusses President Trump’s potential appointment options for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Watch Brill’s latest news clip from his CNBC interview where he discusses raising tax rates on the rich.
“He (Alex Brill) found that 10 states — many of them with large rural populations — broke records in 2019 by hitting their lowest unemployment rates in history: Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin.”
The fourth quarter economic reports show less growth than expected. Brill shares his opinion that “things are slowing a little bit around the world and its a little bit of a timing effect between the seasonal issues that we know and the shutdown issues as well.”
The Washington Free Beacon referenced Alex Brill’s recent op-ed talking about the costs of the proposed Green New Deal.
“AEI resident fellow Alex Brill explained last week that regardless of cost, the unintended consequences of the Green New Deal are “the worst imaginable.”