>>10218112 (lb)
Pipeline to prescription drug profits
(Image v.large - best viewed at link or save first)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/10/03/how-prescription-drug-middlemen-make-their-money/91461918//
Moar middlemen, forgive the sauce.
The Secret Drug Pricing System Middlemen Use to Rake in Millions
(Spread pricing)
Not everybody reads the legal notices inside the Ottumwa Courier. But in January, Iowa pharmacist Mark Frahm noticed something unusual in the paper.
For years, Frahm’s South Side Drug bought pills from distributors, and dispensed prescriptions to the Wapello County jail. In turn, the pharmacy got reimbursed for the drugs by CVS Health Corp., which managed the county’s drug benefits plan.
As he compared the newspaper notice with his own records, and then with the county’s, Frahm saw that for a bottle of generic antipsychotic pills, CVS had billed Wapello County $198.22. But South Side Drug was reimbursed just $5.73.
So why was CVS charging almost $200 for a bottle of pills that it told the pharmacy was worth less than $6? And what was the company doing with the other $192.49?
Frahm had stumbled across what’s known as spread pricing, where companies like CVS mark up—sometimes dramatically—the difference between the amount they reimburse pharmacies for a drug and the amount they charge their clients.
It’s where pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) like CVS make a part of their profit. But Frahm says he didn’t think the spread could be thousands of percent.
“Middlemen have to make some money, but we didn’t expect it to be this extreme,” said Frahm, who said his pharmacy lost money in the jail account last year because CVS paid so little. “We figured everyone was playing fair.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-drug-spread-pricing/
Clinton Foundation Brokers HIV/AIDS Deal With Chinese Pharmaceutical Group
August 1, 2005
The Clinton Foundation in Little Rock, Arkansas has announced a deal with Mchem Pharma Group of Xiamen, China, to supply discounted chemical ingredients to producers of generic AIDS antiviral drugs in India and Africa, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the foundation, Mchem will supply pharmaceutical intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients to drug manufacturers, including Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. in South Africa, and Cipla, Hetero Drugs Ltd., Matrix Laboratories, and Ranbaxy Laboratories in India. The move is designed to ensure that the growing number of new AIDS drugs on the market reach HIV/AIDS patients in the developing world. Mchem's output, for example, initially will be enough to treat about 400,000 patients a year.
The agreement makes Mchem the first Chinese company to join the expanding network of partners enlisted by the Clinton Foundation, which has brokered deep discounts in AIDS drugs and diagnostics since 2003. In February, the foundation announced an agreement with China's Ministry of Health to deliver treatment to two hundred children with HIV/AIDS.
"Mchem is one of China's leading suppliers of the pharmaceutical products that make treatment of HIV/AIDS possible," said Ira C. Magaziner, chairman of the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative. "I applaud Mchem's commitment to increase supply of high-quality HIV/AIDS pharmaceuticals at affordable prices. As access to treatment continues to expand, Mchem and other leading pharmaceutical companies in China will play an increasingly important role."
Marilyn Chase. "Chinese Firm Joins Clinton AIDS-Drug Effort." Wall Street Journal 07/27/2005.
https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/clinton-foundation-brokers-hiv-aids-deal-with-chinese-pharmaceutical-group
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB112242010345596752 (pay walled)
COVID-19 Illinois: Governor JB Pritzker issues new IL coronavirus guidelines as daily cases surpass 2K
JB Pritzker - his foundation is one of The Clinton Foundation's biggest donors.
https://www.clintonfoundation.org/contributors?category=%2410%2C000%2C001+to+%2425%2C000%2C000
He is anon, but truth and accuracy matters.
Thx anon, need to sort out my paywall plugin, or use another method.