Patenting Strategies on Inhaler Delivery Devices

Availability and Pricing of Drugs Prescribed by Otolaryngologists Through a Direct-to-Consumer Pharmacy: Medicare Savings Implications

High prescription drug prices can financially strain patients and insurers, with substantial clinical repercussions. In recent years, direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmacies have emerged as potentially lower-cost alternatives for patients to fill prescriptions. We evaluated whether drugs commonly prescribed by otolaryngologists were available at a national DTC pharmacy (Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company [MCCPDC]) and estimated potential Medicare savings from DTC pricing. We identified drugs and prices paid by Medicare Part D plans using the 2021 Drug Spending Dashboard. Our analysis included 16 generic drugs within the MCCPDC formulary, which offered lower prices for 14 (87.5%) drugs. If plans had secured MCCPDC pricing for all 16 drugs, Medicare patients and plans would have saved $2.9 billion (relative reduction: 62.3%) in 2021. Estimated total savings were greatest for budesonide-formoterol ($1.9 billion), dexlansoprazole ($464.6 million), and levothyroxine ($327.4 million). Otolaryngologists and insurers may consider utilizing DTC pharmacies with lower drug prices, though patients may face challenges projecting out-of-pocket costs across pharmacies, medications, benefit phases, and formulary tiers.

Real-World Use of Inhaled COPD Medications: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rely primarily on inhaled medications to control and treat symptoms. Although the medications delivered by inhaler devices are often quite efficacious when delivered to the lung, the real-world effectiveness of these inhaler devices often falls short. Barriers to effective inhaler use include inhaler misuse and cost-related nonadherence. Inhaler misuse can be reduced with appropriate education which leads to improved outcomes. Education can be provided in multiple settings by a wide array of clinicians and clinical team members including pharmacists, respiratory therapists, nurses, physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, and community health workers, among others. However, despite decades of research and existing effective strategies across settings and types of educators, overall not much progress has been made with respect to effective inhaler technique among populations of patients with COPD in nearly half a century. Similarly, cost-related nonadherence is a long-standing and critical barrier to effective control of COPD, with limited improvements, especially until very recently. This perspective reviews the current promising directions for inhaler-based therapies, ongoing challenges, and critical issues requiring urgent attention.

Delivery Device Patents on GLP-1 Receptor Agonists

This study analyzed the US Food and Drug Administration–listed patents on glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists to determine their claim characteristics and the potential barriers they pose to generic entry.