Good Day BIO: Fast facts on medicine use and prices in the U.S.

A new report sheds light on trends in medicine use and pricing in the U.S. in 2020—and if you’ve been listening to the rhetoric about drug prices, some of the data might surprise you.

Last week, The IQVIA Institute released a new report, The Use of Medicines in the U.S.: Spending and Usage Trends and Outlook for 2025.

It’s a data-rich report and we could talk about it all day—but here are a few highlights you might find interesting. 

In 2020…

• Net medicine spending increased 0.8% to $359 billion—but real net per capita spending declined to $1,085, which amounts to an increase of just $56 since 2010.
• Brand list prices increased by 4.4%—but net prices fell by 2.9%. Meanwhile, 2020 was the fourth year in a row that net prices grew at or below the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
• Only 8% of all patients had annual out-of-pocket medicine costs above $500—and that’s in the midst of a pandemic.
• But 17% of Medicare beneficiaries had annual cost-sharing above this amount—reflecting the design of the Part D benefit, which is in need of reform. 

What’s the outlook through 2025?

• IQVIA expects 50-55 new active substances to be launched per year, adding an additional $133 billion in spending growth through 2025. (More drugs = more spending.)
• Net prices for branded drugs are projected to decline between 0-3% per year. Losses of Exclusivity (LOE) could reduce brand spending by $128 billion.
• The total savings from biosimilar introductions are forecast to be $133 billion in aggregate over the next five years.

Why are we talking about this? If you listen to the rhetoric about drug pricing—and look at the details of proposals like H.R. 3—you’d think the prices of medicines are what’s causing health care costs to rise. But as this data shows, that’s simply not the case—and another reason why price controls won’t work.

More Health Care News: 

Reuters: Moderna files for full U.S. approval of COVID-19 vaccine
“Moderna said on Tuesday it will continue to submit data to the FDA on a rolling basis over the coming weeks on its vaccine, authorized for 18-year-olds and above, with a request for a priority review.” 

The Star-Advertiser (Honolulu): Bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act puts science to work, for everyone
“At the University of Hawaii, where I work in the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, our federally funded research labs make breakthrough discoveries every year…Thanks to Bayh-Dole, these breakthroughs often lead to new companies and products,” says Steve Auerbach, Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Hawaii.

The answer: gene editing.

Our food supply is facing more attacks every day, from population growth, to rising temperatures killing wheat and corn during critical points of their growing cycles, to extreme weather compromising mass production of rice. 

And COVID-19 made food insecurity even more acute, with 20 million more people facing food insecurity in 2020 vs. 2019, totaling 155 million people worldwide, finds a new report.

“A doom and gloom scenario for global food security isn't a foregone conclusion, though,”explains Innovature, because scientists already have advanced technology at the ready to help. 

The answer: gene editing. “Through this process, scientists can make swift and targeted improvements to a cereal crop's DNA that maximize resiliency,” continues Innovature. 

Crops like heat-resistant wheat and drought-tolerant corn may be here soon—read the whole thing to learn more about what scientists are working on.

More Agriculture and Environment News: 

IPWatchdog: TRIPS IP Waiver Could Establish Dangerous Precedent for Climate Change and Other Biotech Sectors
“If an IP waiver is purportedly necessary to solve the COVID-19 global health crisis, can we really feel confident that this or some future Administration will not apply the same logic to the climate crisis? And, without the confidence in the underlying IP for such solutions, what does this mean for U.S. innovation and economic growth?”

Bloomberg Green: What climate science loses without enough Black researchers
“When scientists overlook communities in nations either rich and poor—when they don't monitor air and water continuously and don't watch storm patterns—they can't help save lives and boost livelihoods.” 

The New York Times: You can buy a piece of a Nobel Prize-winning discovery
“The second NFT that Berkeley plans to auction in the coming weeks will be the disclosure form describing the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing invention by Jennifer A. Doudna, a professor of molecular and cell biology at Berkeley.”

President Biden’s Wednesday: Delivering remarks on the COVID-19 response and vaccination at 1:15 PM ET. Then, meeting with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) to discuss a bipartisan infrastructure deal. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Recess. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is gearing up for what The New York Times calls a “big month,” including California v. Texas, which looks at the Affordable Care Act’s health care mandate.