Pharmaguy's Insights Into Drug Industry News

Recently-published second-quarter results provide an opportunity to assess which pharmaceutical products have grown the most during the first half of 2016 versus the same period last year.

Sales of Bristol-Myers Squibb's PD-1 inhibitor Opdivo lead the way, with global revenues of $1.5 billion generated during the first six months of 2016 versus sales of just $162 million in the comparative period of 2015.

Opdivo is approved across a number of oncology indications, with performance in the second-line non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) market integral to its impressive launch. Revenue growth over the next six to 12 months will be watched with great interest, however, following Opdivo's recent failure to demonstrate a survival benefit in first-line patients; an indication where Merck & Co.'s rival drug Keytruda is now expected to assume first-to-market status.

Prescription drugs play an important role in medical care for 57 million seniors and people with disabilities, and account for $1 out of every $6 in Medicare spending. The majority of Medicare prescription drug spending is for drugs covered under the Part D prescription drug benefit, administered by private stand-alone drug plans and Medicare Advantage drug plans. Medicare Part B also covers drugs that are administered to patients in physician offices and other outpatient settings.

After a period of relatively slow growth, total and per capita Part D spending has increased more rapidly in the past few years mainly due to treatments for Hepatitis C, and is projected to increase more rapidly in the next decade as more high-priced specialty drugs become available, according to the recently-released annual report of the Medicare Boards of Trustees.

Even with Medicare’s prescription drug coverage, beneficiaries can face substantial out-of-pocket costs, particularly if they use specialty drugs or multiple high-cost brand-name drugs. The following series of graphics examines trends in Medicare spending on prescription drugs, how Medicare coverage affects beneficiary access and costs, and what the public thinks about different options for keeping drug costs down.