Generics

ST. LOUIS — Express Scripts on Monday launched Inside Rx, a new, partially owned subsidiary that applies Express Scripts' purchasing power to expand affordable access to brand and generic medications for patients in need. According to Express Scripts, Inside Rx has partnered with GoodRx to deliver average savings of 34% on prescription medications for the uninsured and those who experience high out-of-pocket costs for their prescription medications.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Healthcare Distribution Alliance on Monday submitted a joint op-ed that was published by The Hill regarding the inherent risks of importing drugs from foreign markets.

Allowing the importation of pharmaceuticals from foreign markets is not a health cost panacea, argued John Gray, president and CEO HDA, and Steven Anderson president and CEO NACDS, and in fact would undo current legislation designed to maintain the integrety of the closed pharmaceutical supply chain in the U.S.

WASHINGTON — Executives from Celgene, Regeneron and Vertex represented the drug industry Monday during a biomedical research discussion, but drug prices, long a concern of President Donald Trump, was not discussed during the two-hour meeting, reported CNBC.

"There's all kinds of elephants, and the room is crowded with them I suppose, but that one didn't get much attention," Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told CNBC in an interview directly after the meeting.

GENEVA — The World Health Organization will launch a pilot project for prequalifying biosimilar medicines this year, “a step towards making some of the most expensive treatments for cancer more widely available in low- and middle-income countries,” the organization stated.

DANBURY, Conn. — Growth in U.S. spending on prescription medicines fell in 2016 as competition intensified among manufacturers, and payers ramped up efforts to limit price increases, according to research released on Thursday by the QuintilesIMS Institute. New medicines introduced in the past two years continue to drive at least half of total spending growth as clusters of innovative treatments for cancer, autoimmune diseases, HIV, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes become accessible to patients.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred’s Pharmacy reported total sales for April decreased 3% year-over-year to $159.1 million compared to $163.9 million in April 2016. However, total comparable-store sales for the month increased 1.2% compared with a 0.3% increase in comparable sales in the prior year period.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health on Tuesday reported net income for the three months ended March 31 decreased 16.9% year over year to $953 million. According to CVS, this decline was primarily driven by the decline in operating profit, partially offset by lower interest expense of $31 million related to refinancing activity in the prior year as well as the improvement in the effective income tax rate, from 39.4% to 37.3%.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer opened new 192,000-sq-ft. supercenters on Tuesday in McCordsville and Franklin, Ind., which include full-service pharmacies that make “family health care a priority.” The prescription program includes oral generic antibiotics with a special focus on prescriptions most often filled for children, prenatal vitamins, and medications for those with diabetes and high cholesterol. Since its inception in 2006, the program has filled more than 39 million free prescriptions, saving Meijer customers more than $536 million, stated the company.