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One of the few things Democrats and Republicans can agree on these days is that drug prices are out of control. A recent study quantifies the absurdity: U.S. drug costs are almost four times higher than the average in 11 similar countries.What to do about it, of course, is the hard part. But there are signs of a bipartisan consensus forming. (10/4)

With impeachment in high gear, Democrats may not have time or interest to legislate. This is just as well on drug prices, where Nancy Pelosi has proposed price controls and President Trump cheered her on. Mrs. Pelosi’s legislation would direct the secretary of Health and Human Services to “negotiate” a “fair price” with drug manufacturers for the most expensive 250 patent-protected brand drugs. The government would issue a take-or-leave-it offer with a tax sword hanging over drug makers. (10/4)

A new Maryland law that creates a prescription-drug affordability board to help the state regulate drug prices may be a harbinger of what’s to come in drug-pricing legislation. The law permits cost reviews when drug prices or price increases exceed specified thresholds. (Tara Sklar and Christopher Robertson, 10/3)

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, commonly known as ICER, wants everyone to believe that it cares about patients and that its value assessments of new drugs and treatments are intended to help them. How do we know that? It’s become the organization’s central talking point as it makes the rounds in advance of finalizing its revised Value Assessment Framework for 2020, which describes the methodology the organization will use in its assessments beginning next year. (Patricia Goldsmith and Carole Florman, 10/9)

Fewer biotechnology startups are being acquired as a result of large pharmaceutical-company mergers and a strong market for initial public offerings, industry watchers said. Twenty U.S. venture-backed biotechs were acquired in the first three quarters of the year, the fewest since the same number of biotechs were purchased in the same period in 2012, according to VentureSource, a market tracker owned by WSJ Pro Venture Capital publisher Dow Jones & Co. (Brian Gormley, 10/8)

Senior Executive Editor David Shipley presents an editorial arguing that leaders in both parties now support reforms to make prescriptions more affordable. (10/7)