Earning the trust of patients

Edelman’s annual trust barometer research recorded an increase of 6 points in the U.S. that helped pharma reach a new rating score of 44.
The industry would need to reach 50 to get to neutral territory and to 60 to be considered trusted under the Edelman ratings.
Overall, trust in healthcare—which includes pharma, biotech and life sciences, hospitals and clinics, insurance and consumer health—increased by 8 points in the U.S. to reach 61.

Some healthcare facts we all should know

In a partisan political climate, leaders on both sides of the aisle have identified an urgent challenge: the price of prescription drugs. The average American pays approximately $1,200 a year for prescriptions – and that figure represents out-of-pocket costs alone.
Here are some facts and stats that sometimes get overlooked in the debate.

Most people — 71% — said they trust drug companies to come up with new and effective drugs.
But 80% said industry profits are a major factor in high drug prices.
75% said it’s easy to afford their prescriptions, and 45% said they pay less than $25 per month. Unsurprisingly, poorer people and those in worse health had a harder time covering their bills. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

As sales of Merck & Co.’s immuno-oncology heavy hitter Keytruda soared 66% in the fourth quarter to $2.15 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations they were knocked because analysts want to know ‘what’s next”?
Pharma is obsessed with fighting and winning and dominating even if it means making bad business decisions.
The wisdom of setting business goals—always striving for bigger and better—is so established within pharma that it seems like the only thing left to debate is whether the goals are ambitious enough.
Pharma is suffering from ambition hyperinflation.

Pharma, which used to cite the high cost of research, now say rebates within supply chain drive up prices.
Pharma says they don’t actually benefit much from list-price increases and that their net prices are suffering, because they are paying bigger rebates to pharmacy-benefit managers that negotiate prices in secret with their clients, such as employers and labor unions.
Drugmakers’ price increases are unrelated to the rebates, according to research commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, a trade group for PBMs.