Why Pharmaceuticals Are So Complicated In The U.S. | CNBC Marathon

CNBC Marathon explores why pharmaceuticals are so complicated in the United States.
Concerns over prescription drug prices have grown into a big political issue, with nearly one in four Americans saying it's difficult to afford their medications, according to a March 2019 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Pharmacies technically set their own prices for generic drugs, but there are other players involved that complicate the process.

Johnson & Johnson, the biggest pharmaceutical company in the U.S. based on market cap, announced in November 2021 it plans to spin off its consumer business into a new publicly traded company by November 2023. Analysts overwhelmingly say it’s a smart business move, but it could also come with some risks.

Meanwhile, the U.S.'s approval of Biogen's Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm was heralded as a historic triumph in the fight against the memory-robbing disease. But so far, Biogen has reported only a fraction of Aduhelm revenue to meet Wall Street's expectations. Patients and physicians have been torn over the drug's murky clinical data and its high price tag. Aduhelm's lackluster launch has been costly, forcing Biogen to take measures to keep the drug afloat.

For Covid-19 vaccine maker, BioNTech, they had little recognition outside of their hometown of Germany prior to the pandemic. Over a month and a half before the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic, BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin met with his wife, BioNTech’s co-founder and chief medical officer Özlem Türeci, and together they agreed to redirect most of the company’s resources to developing a vaccine. The founders were confident in the potential of their mRNA technology, which they knew could trigger a powerful immune response. That confidence wasn’t necessarily shared by the broader medical community. No mRNA vaccine or treatment had ever been approved before. But the couple’s timely breakthrough was actually decades in the making.

CNBC Marathon brings together the best of CNBC on YouTube.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:31 Why U.S. pharmacies overcharge (Published August 2021)
16:35 The rise of BioNTech (Published October 2021)
34:21 Why the biggest pharma company in the U.S. is breaking up (Published January 2022)
45:42 What’s the controversy behind Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug? (Published January 2022)

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Why Pharmaceuticals Are So Complicated In The U.S. | CNBC Marathon

[nogod]

Pharmaceuticals is not the only complicated thing in the US. Everything is complicated in the US.
Take an example, health insurance. There are many plans, policies, classes, .... Or buying a house: opening cost/fee, closing fee, escrow, finances, fixed rates/flex rates, ....
At the end of your life, things are still complicated: burial options, locations, type of graves.

I'm not making this up: When we buried my father, the cemetery director asked me : "Do you want double layer or single layer in your dad's grave?" Single layer means no other casket could be placed on my dad's casket. Double layer means another casket, be that my mom's or a family member's, could be on top of my father's. Each option had its different price when they sold you the burial lots.

Greed. Greed. Greed.

[syedbilalnafees]

It still baffles me that America, the 'greatest nation on earth' doesn't have universal heath care or subsidised medicine

[FTBASTAR]

So what you're saying is that health insurance companies need to be abolished?

[AlexIsUber]

Two-thirds of all personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills.

In US you’re 1 series medical issue away from having money to filing for bankruptcy

[Almighty_Mage]

The solution is to not get sick or injured or have any health complications whatsoever.

[kellyk]

The problem is that discount cards are also used to collect your information for sale to data brokers and other companies that want to harvest and aggregate as much information about you as possible. And that's a huge problem in this country.

[TheWizard]

I did a report on this industry for an ethics class. This industry is one of the most evil things that still exists.

[PinkHawk]

My insurance company fights to not cover medications. Even if I have been on the same medications for several years. They need prior authorizations which are a waste of time and energy for me and my doctors. They keep trying to make me go back on medications that don't work for me.Insurance companies are another issue.

[criessmiles]

Only God can help America
The country is plagued with greed

Cheers from west Africa
🦅

[wism]

Pharmacies and doctors are so extra in the US. In Mexico, you go to a doctor and get your medicine without all this BS for less than 30 bucks. Same medicine, same stuff

[blackseabrew]

My primary medication, as of 2019, was $19, 500/month. In 2008 it was just $860/month. That's not a typo. The raw materials to make this medication did not change in price during this 11 years. I could literally make it for $40/month. But I would get thrown in a cage.

[KazenoniKakuremi]

CVS is both a PBM and a pharmacy - and their PBM's also negotiate with non-CVS pharmacies?
How is that even allowed lol - they can literally see and set prices for their competing pharmacies!

[misdrevenous]

God Bless Mr. Sahin and Ms. Tureci. They have good hearts.

[pradeepmagan]

What a joke, the US needs to have one buying agency which negotiates prices for all prescription medicines

[FixitAgain]

My dad has alzheimer's. We can't spend 26k/year that's a joke companies that price these treatments so high are just the devil

[MrGreen-dpoz]

It's not complicated. It's called greed.

[lorettab]

CVS Health lies about how much they save. PCMA lies about giving us choice of pharmacy. Adam Fein gets a lot of money from PBMs. NCPA tells the truth. Many independent pharmacies will offer a lower cash price than insurance. With insurance, the PBMs will often tell retail pharmacies and independent pharmacies to charge a higher price. Sometimes, pbms will require the patient to pay more than the cash price at an independent pharmacy.

[lamasbelladelmundo]

This went from being about Why Pharmaceuticals Are So Complicated In The U.S. to a one hour ad for pharmaceutical companies. According to this ad pfizer is a great company.

[blipblop]

The fact that pharmacists get paid over $120k a year on average tell me that a lot of opportunities for good jobs are not being taken.

[bebopnola]

CVS has astronomical costs for all items, not just meds. It is truly ridiculous their prices for items like household products and snacks.