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President Donald Trump has sent "principles" for drug pricing reform to lawmakers, White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement on Tuesday. (3/10)

The price of a Gilead Sciences (GILD) pill approved in the U.S. last fall to prevent HIV would have to be cut nearly in half in order to be cost-effective because it has questionable benefits over an older, similar pill that will face lower-cost generic competition later this year, according to a new analysis. As a result, the authors argued that switching to the newer medicine might limit access and boost HIV transmission. For its part, the drug maker shot back the methodology used in the study was “flawed” and led to “inaccurate conclusions that severely underestimate the value” of the newer medicine. (Silverman, 3/9)

A cheaper HIV prevention pill is going on sale soon in the U.S., but the price drop won't help as many people if doctors instead prescribe a newer, more expensive brand-name drug, experts say. HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a cocktail of drugs combined in a single pill taken once a day, can reduce the risk of HIV infections from sex or injected drug use by up to 99%, researchers note in the Annals of Internal Medicine. High costs, however, keep many patients who need PrEP from taking it. (Rapaport, 3/9)

Despite various issues that have slowed biosimilar uptake by the U.S. health care system, usage is expected to accelerate over the next few years and the overall sales generated by these medicines are forecast to nearly triple to roughly $2.5 billion by 2024, a new analysis suggested. The optimistic outlook reflects several factors, although some remain unsettled. A key contributor is the effort by the Food and Drug Administration to approve a growing number of biosimilars, which are nearly identical variants of pricey brand-name biologic medicines that are expected to cost less but yield the same health outcomes. So far, the agency has approved 26 such medicines. (Silverman, 3/9)

Forty-five states, the U.S. solicitor general and groups representing doctors, pharmacists, grocery store owners and retirees have filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of Arkansas’ efforts to regulate companies that pay drug claims on behalf of health plans. At issue is whether the country’s top court should overturn lower court rulings that have limited the reach of Arkansas laws passed in response to pharmacists’ complaints of low reimbursement from the companies, known as pharmacy benefit managers. (Davis, 3/6)

A health care advocacy organization launched a new ad in Iowa earlier this month, making the case that allowing federal officials to negotiate prescription prices directly with drug companies would reduce cost for Americans on Medicare. The ad states “the current Republican-sponsored health care proposal does not allow Medicare to negotiate.” (3/9)

When Baqsimi came on to the US market last year, some parents of young diabetics breathed a sigh of relief. The nasal spray made it far easier to treat severe hypoglycaemic attacks, replacing a kit that required those in the vicinity of the incapacitated patient to administer injections, even if they had never done it before. Julie Settles, director of medical affairs at Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind Baqsimi, says the product made her feel “warm and fuzzy” from the moment she heard about it. The Indiana-based drugmaker bought the drug from Locemia Solutions in 2015. Robert Oringer, Locemia’s co-founder, had spotted the problem with the existing solutions while taking care of his own diabetic children. (Kuchler, 3/9)