Virginia Is for Lovers ... But Not PDABs

It’s a quick one today because I’m at the Tufts CEVR annual meeting, and that’s not something that can be multitasked. If you’re also here, please track me down (or shoot an email). Plaid jacket, checked shirt, overwhelmed look. 

Still, some important stuff this morning: 

• I don’t usually write about process stuff in the states. There’s just too much, and I can’t keep track of the nuances and the politics. But sometimes, there’s a bit of process so obviously meaningful that it just can’t be ignored. Today is one of those days: Virginia’s governor, Glenn Youngkin, just torpedoed the state legislature’s PDAB. His logic is worth noting: a spokesperson called the effort “unproven” and flagged the possibility that such an effort would “potentially restrict … access.”

• While we’re talking PDABs, the cystic fibrosis community in Colorado, despite scoring a huge win last year, is still pushing against the concept. 

• Knowledge Ecology International is once again pushing the government to break the patent on Astellas/Pfizer’s Xtandi cancer drug under march-in rights (through either Bayh-Dole or federal section 1498). If this sounds familiar, it’s because KEI has tried this gambit before. The difference this time is that there’s lot of attention in DC -- there’s the Biden administration’s exploration of using march-in for drug prices, and Sen. Warren loves this play -- so I’m sure KEI wants to see exactly how much the ground has shifted. 

• The results of this study of hep C drug access is not surprising, but it’s important nonetheless. When states did away with access restrictions, more patients received the curative treatments. That this process has taken so long is a low-key scandal, and hep C is a great example of the kind of public health problem that can emerge when we don’t have a thoughtful discussion about how to pay for cost-effective treatments that have a big budget impact. Like, um … 

• … anti-obesity medicines, which are at the heart of this MedPage op-ed about the financial impact of obesity drugs on Medicare. Again, the budget pain is real here, and the solution isn’t particularly simple (and anyone who argues otherwise should be viewed with great skepticism).