WEBVTT - Rx Savings' Rea on Wide Gaps in EpiPen Drug Pricing (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>over to the first Word breaking news desk for today's

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<v Speaker 1>Good afternoon, Charlie. Stocks are under pressure today, helped by

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<v Speaker 1>Dow Jones reported that Qualcom is said to be in

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<v Speaker 1>as much as nineteen percent, and finally, Costco reports after

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<v Speaker 1>the bell live from the first breaking news. Ask Bill Maloney, Charlotte,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much. Good Maloney will be on Costco

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<v Speaker 1>w K on your terminal stocks. Laura, I'm Charlie Pelt.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a Bloomberg business flash. Now on Bloombern Radio, we

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<v Speaker 1>take stock of healthcare. The tissue of drug pricing has

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<v Speaker 1>been at the forefront, certainly in the political brown for

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<v Speaker 1>the last few months. We're in a very special time

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<v Speaker 1>in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. How many three

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<v Speaker 1>percent of all biotechs that start actually get a drug approved.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a very hard thing to do. Bloomberg takings to

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<v Speaker 1>healthcare and focus on Bloomberg radio the prices of drugs.

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<v Speaker 1>The EpiPen allergy shot, for example, we know, of course

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<v Speaker 1>it's in mentioning controversy because it sells for almost as

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<v Speaker 1>much as the latest iPhone in the United States, actually

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<v Speaker 1>cost less than its leather case in Britain. That's just

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<v Speaker 1>one egregious example of the kind of situations that Michael

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<v Speaker 1>Ray faces and tries to solve with his company are

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<v Speaker 1>X Savings Solutions, where he's founder and CEO based in

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<v Speaker 1>Overland Park, Kansas. So, Michael, uh, it has the problem

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<v Speaker 1>gotten less bad with so much focus on it or

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<v Speaker 1>does it continue to you know, vexed consumers and companies? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think, you know, for pleasurely with you guys, I

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<v Speaker 1>think it continues to vex the entire market. And when

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<v Speaker 1>you see store whereas like today, um, you start comparing

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<v Speaker 1>to other countries that at even another level of questioning

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<v Speaker 1>about what, um, what what a price should be. M

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<v Speaker 1>we obviously know we've been paying and uh, you know

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<v Speaker 1>last week my island was in front of Congress, but

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't lower the price. You know, it's it's a

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<v Speaker 1>public scolding, but it's not it's not change in prices.

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<v Speaker 1>So it's concerning. Hey, Michael, you know, one of the

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<v Speaker 1>things I want to point to out is that federal

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<v Speaker 1>health regulators have said that my line is short change

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<v Speaker 1>in the government on rebates for sales of EpiPen uh,

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<v Speaker 1>despite the drugmaker having already been admonished that the way

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<v Speaker 1>it classified the device for rebates is in correct. Can

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<v Speaker 1>you explain what's going on? Well, I think that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the way rebates work is very complex. Um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>you can call rebates can be called different things. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>they can be called access fees, formulary formulary tr fees,

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<v Speaker 1>they can be called mark could share. But the but

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<v Speaker 1>the you know, at the end of the day, it's

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<v Speaker 1>money that's promised to go back to whoever the payer is,

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<v Speaker 1>in this case the federal government. Um. You know, if

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<v Speaker 1>if that is the case and that's found out to

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<v Speaker 1>be be true, UM, I suspect more problems from Island.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell us more about how your company is working

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<v Speaker 1>to solve this problem. Yeah, great, great question. Um. You know, so,

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<v Speaker 1>really what we're trying to do is we're trying to

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<v Speaker 1>put information in the hands of consumers. Americans are you know,

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<v Speaker 1>really good consumers and nearly everything they buy except prescription drugs.

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<v Speaker 1>And the reason that they're not is not because they

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to, it's because it's too hard. Um, there's

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<v Speaker 1>there's a lack of information available. UM, there's certain players

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<v Speaker 1>in the supply chain that that wants, UM, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>access to certain information so that so that you know,

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<v Speaker 1>consumer will buy an f depen instead of another product

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<v Speaker 1>on the market, UM, another FNF from product that maybe

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<v Speaker 1>a third of the price. And so you know, what

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<v Speaker 1>we really try to do is put that information back

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<v Speaker 1>in the hands consumers, let them know about all of

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<v Speaker 1>their options, and in turn they act more like consumers.

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<v Speaker 1>They save money, the health plan saves money, and their

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<v Speaker 1>employers saves money. So what the people who use an EpiPen,

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<v Speaker 1>what do they take away from this? Yeah, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a great, great question, and I think that um,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, this is something that's been missing from the

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<v Speaker 1>conversation is the fact that there is an F and

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<v Speaker 1>F from product available. It's an auto injector product. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a fraction of the price to EpiPen, and most

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<v Speaker 1>people just don't even know that they have that choice

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<v Speaker 1>miland was very effective the same. And what about the cost,

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<v Speaker 1>because I know that I was looking at the cost

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<v Speaker 1>of the EpiPen. It now sells for more than six

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<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars per two pack, or more than three dollars

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<v Speaker 1>a piece. Obviously, when they bought this product back in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and seven, they saw they were selling this

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<v Speaker 1>product was selling for fifty seven dollars each. Yeah, So

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<v Speaker 1>I think that there's there's really two important points there.

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<v Speaker 1>The first is UM, you know, they rose prices because

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<v Speaker 1>they thought they could UM and in a free market,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we reward stockholders for that. On the flip side, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of information has been withheld from from you

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<v Speaker 1>health plans, employers and their consumers, and so really we

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<v Speaker 1>want to put that information back in the hands of

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<v Speaker 1>the consumer. They can pay half the price that they

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<v Speaker 1>would otherwise for nepeten. And something that we've been doing

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<v Speaker 1>for a couple of years is we've seen this happen,

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<v Speaker 1>is we've been moving and getting that information out to

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<v Speaker 1>our users where they're paying ten dollar co pays for

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<v Speaker 1>a generic from product instead of six price tech that

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<v Speaker 1>the pharmacy counter for the branded so that there's a

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<v Speaker 1>really big difference and that information needs to get to people.

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<v Speaker 1>It sounds like, uh, do you see more, um more

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<v Speaker 1>of the kind of thing you do being done in

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<v Speaker 1>the in the industry by other companies as well? You know,

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't heard of anyone else doing it yet. I suspect,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, there's a lot of interest in this um

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<v Speaker 1>and and one of the things that we take some

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<v Speaker 1>pride in is we do have a granted patent for

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<v Speaker 1>the process, so we think but it's a bit unique,

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<v Speaker 1>and we really want to advocate for the people who

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<v Speaker 1>haven't had the representation for a long time. That's consumers,

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<v Speaker 1>that's their their employers, and the health plans that largely

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<v Speaker 1>have been taken out of the equation in a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of cases. Thank you very much for joining us. Michael

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<v Speaker 1>Ray is the founder and the chief executive of our

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<v Speaker 1>ex Savings Solutions based in Overland Park, Kansas. Of course

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<v Speaker 1>is our healthcare segment. And just to give you an

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<v Speaker 1>update on the EpiPen program, Senate staffers and two U

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<v Speaker 1>S senators have called for an increased investigation of the

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<v Speaker 1>classification of EpiPens. You're listening to taking stock This is Bloomberg, Bloomber.

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