News from Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Articles
Real-World Data Points to Greater Impact of Semaglutide Over Tirzepatide in Reducing Heart Attack, Stroke Risk
(9/2, Marco Meglio, Neurology Live) reports “Semaglutide showed a 57% greater risk reduction for MACE compared to tirzepatide in patients with obesity and cardiovascular disease, without diabetes. The STEER study's findings are consistent with previous trials, such as SELECT and SCORE, highlighting semaglutide's cardiovascular benefits.” Full
Most Favored Nations: Not Just a Simple Copy and Paste of Foreign Drug Prices
(9/3, Jennifer Graff & Eleanor M. Perfetto, RealClearHealth) comments “...Prices resulting from a country's HTA process reflect a country's values and norms. The analyses driving foreign pricing decisions tend to narrowly focus on clinical-trial data, such as biomarkers, often neglecting what matters most to patients. Non-health outcomes of value to US patients, like the ability to stay in the workforce or desire to impose less burden on family, are often not considered. It, again, can mean that economic assessments used by other countries reflect priorities that do not align with the outcomes important to US patients and their families.” Full
Medicare Saved Record $2.4B from Largest Accountable Care Program Last Year
(9/3, Rebecca Pifer, Healthcare Dive) reports “...The Medicare Shared Savings Program generated a record $6.5 billion in savings last year, with $2.4 billion of that flowing to the government and ACOs retaining $4.1 billion in performance awards. The CMS also found that ACOs, groups of providers that band together to manage care for a patient population, are improving in quality, with health markers including those for blood pressure, depression and diabetes improving compared to 2023.” Full
Access Infinity Introduces AI-Powered Price and HTA Predictions on Nuro Platform
(9/3, Katie McCool, The Evidence Base) reports “Access Infinity has announced the launch of an AI-enabled feature on its Nuro platform, which provides market access insights for pharmaceutical and life sciences teams. The update introduces automated predictions for drug pricing and health technology assessment (HTA) outcomes, aiming to cut a process that typically takes months down to minutes.” Full
Press Releases
Research Finds That Post-Approval Cancer Trials Fell After IRA Passage, With Disproportionate Impact on Small Molecule Drugs
(9/3, National Pharmaceutical Council Press Release) “New research published in Health Affairs Scholar finds that the passage of the government price-setting provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was associated with a broad decline in industry-funded oncology trials after first FDA approval, with disproportionally greater reductions for small molecule drugs...‘In addition to the therapeutic benefits, small molecule drugs often provide greater flexibility and convenience for patients, making cancer treatments possible through a pill taken at home,’ said Dr. Zheng, lead author and NPC Research Manager. ‘We sought to quantify the impact of their shorter “clock” to government price regulation on post-approval clinical trials for oncology.’” Full
"Most-Favored Nation" Drug Pricing Strategy May Backfire, New Research Warns
(9/3, ISPOR Press Release) “...Although lowering drug prices for Americans is important, ‘doing so through an international price referencing mechanism is ill advised’ the authors concluded. ‘A more economically sustainable policy is to develop health technology assessment bodies that formally review comparative clinical benefit and value for money. This approach would recognize and promote innovation as critical to population health. Existing US initiatives, including Medicare drug price negotiations and state Medicaid selective contracting, have already demonstrated success in achieving price reductions through value-based approaches.’” Full
Journals
Comparative Effectiveness of Risankizumab Versus Ustekinumab in Bio-naive CD Patients: A Real-World Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study
August 2025, Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Stimulators in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Network Meta-Analysis
Rakhshanda Khan, et al.
September 3, 2025, medRxiv
Improving the Reporting on Health Equity in Observational Research (STROBE-Equity): Extension Checklist and Elaboration
Omar Dewidar, et al.
September 3, 2025, BMJ
Transparent Reporting of Observational Studies Emulating a Target Trial: The TARGET Statement
Aidan G Cashin, et al.
September 3, 2025, BMJ
Real-World Data and Evidence in Pain Research: An IMMPACT Comprehensive Review and Best Practice Recommendations
Jan Vollert, et al.
September 3, 2025, Pain