Understanding the politics of drug pricing in the United States

Sometimes the conversation about drug pricing within the pharma industry and the one going on in the wider world seem like they're in completely different languages. But, as pharma learned in a big way last year, the political conversation around drug pricing can have a very real effect on their bottom lines and ways of doing business.

Everyone says they want more affordable drugs for patients that need them, but people disagree quite a bit on who's to blame for the current status quo of sky-high prescription prices – not to mention how they might be corrected.

To help unpack some of those trends and conflicting perspectives, Brandon Newman, CEO of healthcare analytics firm Xevant, joins host Jonah Comstock on today’s episode of the pharmaphorum podcast. They discuss the oft-maligned role of pharmacy benefit managers, problems with the drug pricing provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, the lack of (and importance of) price transparency, the various levers available to the government to address prices, and what companies like Xevant are doing right now to lower drug prices for patients.

Tune in for an in-depth look into one of the most complex economic and political issues facing the pharmaceutical industry today.

You can listen to episode 119 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series - in iTunes, Spotify, acast, Stitcher, and Podbean.