Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and rewarding, because that oh-so-familiar routine of meetings, online calls, and deadlines has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world keeps spinning no matter how much we push back. So time to get on with it. Please join us for a cup of stimulation — hot buttered rum is our choice today — as we cast about for items of interest. Speaking of which, here are some tidbits. Hope your day goes well…

Weight-loss drugs may eventually reach only about 50% of the overweight ‌and obese people who could benefit from them due to complexities of health care systems and financial constraints, Reuters writes, citing comments made by Eli Lilly chief executive officer David Ricks said at a conference. Lilly and Novo Nordisk are competing for share in the global market for ​GLP-1 drugs, which analysts see topping $100 billion per year in the next decade. But ​just one in 10 people who are overweight or obese are using GLP-1s. “It’s never going to be a hundred,” Ricks said. “For institutional reasons ​in health care and some other complexities in managing health, it’s never going to be that high.” He pointed to low-cost statins, ​the most commonly prescribed cholesterol drugs, as a comparable example. “Between 40 and 50% of people who should be on them, are on them. I think of that as maybe a ceiling,” he said.

The Trump administration’s desire to pry open the black box of prescription drug prices is facing stiff opposition from the phalanx of lobbyists representing pharmacy benefit managers and health insurers, STAT notes. In January, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule that would mandate PBMs disclose a wide range of drug pricing information to employers and make it easier to be audited. The public had until last week to submit comments. A review of the more than 500 letters reflects varying interests: predictable resistance from PBMs and health insurers; enthusiasm from Mark Cuban’s pharmacy and others in the business community who want middlemen to face more accountability; and drug companies cheered PBMs being in the regulatory crosshairs but wanted pullback on disclosure of drug pricing data. 

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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