AI and drug discovery

As reported in the Economist: In 2019, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit) did something unusual in modern medicine—they found a new antibiotic, halicin. In May this year another team found a second antibiotic, abaucin. What marked these two compounds out was not only their potential for use against two of the most…

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ICER’s reference case. Digital therapeutics: What the US can learn from Europe. Digital clinical trials in mental health. What happens to health programs if the government shuts down? Medical debt in the US.

Techniques pharmacy benefit managers use to lower cost

How do pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) claim they can reduce cost? A Health Affairs Forefront article by Brennan and Shrank (2023) identify 6 key pathways: Mail order. Mail order alternative is often cheaper than dispensing at the retail pharmaciesdue to greater scale and automation Negotiating power. PBMs leverage purchasing power to lower dispensing fees. PBMs…

Does the 340B program improve quality of care?

According to a paper by Smith et al. 2023, the answer is ‘no’. The authors use data from AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Data, Hospital Cost Reporting Information System Data, Office of Pharmacy Affairs Information System Data, and American Hospital Association Annual Survey for 15 states between 2008 to 2014. The…

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Biosimilar “skinny labels” Expensive generics? EU to ban payment for milk, sperm and blood Google Health on AI. Victor Fuchs has passed away..