KEY TAKEAWAY:  As drugs for many common conditions lose patent protection and face generic competition, branded drug companies increasingly are relying on revenue from drugs for serious and sometimes rare conditions, a class of medicines known as “specialty drugs.” However, these specialty drugs can cost tens of thousands of dollars but in an era of “healthcare consumerism” DTC ads are not going to help overcome sticker shock.

KEY IDEA: Biopharma has to understand it has responsibilities to a wider community than its own shareholders.  Using PR talking points only serve to make pharma executives feel good about themselves while the public and politicians zero in on high drug prices and a lack of transparency.

KEY TAKEAWAY: The drug companies could care less about consumers and patients.  Want proof? Look no further than the dismissal of patient concerns at a meeting in San Francisco when one executive said “Gregg Alton, the executive vice president for corporate and medical affairs, joked that he goes running. Then his tone turned serious as he talked about research, innovation, and the value of life-saving new drugs. “I sleep quite well,” he concluded.

KEY IDEA: Shareholders vs. patients, who is more important?  One pharma CEO is leaving no doubt that shareholders come first and has raised prices to appease the Street.  Can CEO’s really balance patient needs with shareholder expectations?

POST SUMMARY: New polling finds public is concerned about the rising cost of prescription drugs.  Pharma has found a away to keep investors happy with more drugs coming off patent, but is this model sustainable?

POST SUMMARY: According to an editorial in today’s Times “pharma companies are taking advantage of a mix of laws that force insurers to include essentially all expensive drugs in their policies, and a philosophy that demands that every new health care product be available to everyone, no matter how little it helps or how much it costs.”