Many of my friends in the pharma world feel that the evolution of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the US has led to their operations and impact becoming increasingly mysterious. While we understand in broad strokes the role they play, their business model has broadened to the extent it has become fuzzy—as if by design. We all harbor general skepticism towards middlemen, and question what actual value they add to the healthcare system. When it comes to PBMs, views on…

An ageing society that is fortunate to benefit from an accelerating flow of innovative therapies must be prepared for an ever-increasing nominal healthcare spending. But can healthcare continue to take a larger share of the economy without starving other essential services for a healthy quality of life? This is an especially sensitive question in the ‘New Normal’ average economic environment of low single digit percent growth rate, when it is difficult to keep the healthcare cost growth rate at less…

President Kennedy successfully persuaded US steel industry executives to manage their price increases responsibly for the collective good by shaming them from his pulpit. Would such a bully pulpit offer an effective answer to balancing the biopharma budgets? Let us fast forward two generations from the early 1960s to assess what has changed. First, self-interest has gained primacy today, at the same time as bipartisan decorum and the sense of common good have declined. The ability to publicly shame an…

There’s a prevailing narrative that drug spending is a relatively minor 10% of overall healthcare spending in the US.  Like most narratives, this isn’t completely wrong, but it ignores a relatively big portion of spending on drugs: those drugs that are administered in a hospital or clinic and get billed under a patient’s medical benefit plan, rather than the drug benefit portion of their insurance.  Taking those hospital administered drugs, and other such direct distribution channels into account, the biopharma…

Many industries are being profoundly disrupted by IT. The survival of the publishing industry is in question as ad rates have plummeted in response to data and content transparency in the digital world. Digital technology has enabled pricing transparency that is fundamentally shifting spending patterns in travel, entertainment, transportation and many other industries. The biopharma industry so far has not felt too much heat—thanks to the complexity of its business. (Also see "Six Questions For McKinsey's Fox On Pharma's Digital…

Novartis and Sun Pharma agreed to a novel transaction conceptualized by MP team. Sun Pharma acquired 14 long-listed brands in Japan from Novartis for a total cash consideration of $293 million (see Press Release below). MP Advisors, led by Tarun Shah, solved a challenge facing many biopharma companies—how to establish a significant presence in Japan that will create a sustainable and growing infrastructure. MP team is well-positioned to help you solve such challenges in capturing global growth opportunities, from major…