This week, I’m rerunning some popular posts while I put the finishing touches on DCI’s 2025-26 Economic Report on Pharmaceutical Wholesalers and Specialty Distributors. Click here to see the original post from July 2025. ICYMI, Express Scripts will boot the reference products from its 2026 formulary, but will cling to its biosimilar pricing double standard. --- The 2025 launch of biosimilars to Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara (ustekinumab) marks another turning point in pharmacy benefit dyn...| Drug Channels
On October 14, 2025, Drug Channels Institute will release our 2025-26 Economic Report on Pharmaceutical Wholesalers and Specialty Distributors. This report—our sixteenth edition—is the most comprehensive, fact-based tool for understanding and analyzing the large and growing U.S. pharmaceutical distribution industry. With 9 chapters, 400+ pages, 187 exhibits, and 850+ endnotes, this report is unmatched in scope and depth. There is no other resource like it. Preorder today to secure this fu...| Drug Channels
Our news-laden summer is ending. Time to pack away your bathing suit, send the kids back to school, and cherish these curated curiosities that I combed from the Drug Channels coastline: Aetna’s latest white bagging plan: Saving money or shifting costs? 340B covered entities are still not sharing discounts with needy patients PBM-affiliated private label biosimilars and their pricing double standard UnitedHealth Group’s 2,694 subsidiaries: too big to manage? P.S. Join my nearly 65,000 Link...| Drug Channels
After multiple years of mandated disclosure of negotiated hospital-insurer rates, those of us who follow the buy-and-bill channel might have expected transparency to reduce drug price variability, lower hospital markups, and accelerate adoption of lower-cost biosimilars. Alas, that’s not what the latest data reveal. DCI’s analysis of four national commercial insurers—Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare—and 26 hospitals found that: Hospitals still earn significant markups over a...| Drug Channels
Let’s cut through the steamy summer haze with a refreshing breeze of industry insights from Drug Channels—perfect for pondering while you float in your favorite pool: 340B Discounts Still Not Reaching Needy Patients Why do patients switch from biosimilars back to Humira? Copay accumulator programs strike again! The Grim Outlook for Retail Pharmacies Plus, a shout-out to three talented journalists. P.S. Want more real-time insights? Join my more than 64,000 LinkedIn followers for daily lin...| Drug Channels
In April 2023, I received a letter from the Ontario government with information about the new biosimilar switching policy. I had until the end of the year to switch from the biologic medication I take to treat my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to a biosimilar. I did my best to be hopeful and believe it would…| The Seated View