Melanie Whittington: Why Are Drugs So Expensive?

In this episode of the Vital Health Podcast, host Duane Schulthess speaks with Melanie Whittington, Managing Director and Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at Tufts Medical Center.

They examine how health economic modeling can more accurately reflect real-world market dynamics, the rising pressure behind IRA and MFN drug pricing, the risks to oncology innovation, the limits of conventional cost-effectiveness frameworks, plus the role of transparency and clearer communication of long-term value in sustaining a healthy innovation ecosystem.

Key Topics

• Market Modeling: Hypothetical models versus real-world pricing dynamics, patent cliffs.
• Pricing Policy: IRA, MFN, market-based pricing scrutiny, communicating why prices are "worth it".
• Innovation Incentives: Private capital risk, oncology small molecules, policy-driven pipeline shifts.
• Value Framework Limits: QALY concerns, rule-versus-tool debates, GRACE, broader treatment impacts.
• Transparency and Outlook: Net price opacity, PBM negotiations, generics and biosimilars, the next innovation cycle.

Opinions expressed are those of the speakers. The Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics is a division of MEDACorp.

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