The Wall Street Journal recently published an article that, unfortunately, elevated a “study” conducted by an organization, 3 Axis Advisors (46brooklyn), with a long history of cherry-picking data to support pre-determined conclusions, making wide-reaching assertions from incomplete data, and relying on faulty methodology to produce findings that support their agenda to undermine pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

As with all 3 Axis Advisors (46brooklyn) reports, the information used is cherry-picked to confirm their biases and advance a predetermined conclusion. In fact, the founders of 3 Axis Advisors / 46brooklyn are affiliated with the Ohio Pharmacists Association. 

The work of PBMs leads to an average of $1,040 in savings per covered patient annually.

A fact sheet prepared by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) sheds light on the flawed approach taken by 3 Axis Advisors.

Key findings in the PCMA fact sheet include:

• 3 Axis Advisors and their sister company 46brooklyn Research have a long history of cherry-picking examples to fit a narrative that doesn’t actually represent the 70 million scripts per year filled in Washington.

   

  • This is not new a new approach for 3 Axis Advisors—previous reports by this group also use low-quality examples and data that do not represent the overall market.
• The report uses an extremely limited dataset, which cannot legitimately be used to make generalizations about the entire market.
  • The report uses data from just 33 small and independent pharmacies. To be representative of the market, they would have needed to use a larger sample size of 823 retail pharmacies.
• The report misrepresents mail and specialty pharmacies and the profits that pharmacies make from generic drugs.

   

  • The calculations showing HUGE discrepancies between the mean and median calculations clearly demonstrate the problem with combining pharmacy types. Mail pharmacies dispense a high volume of relatively inexpensive drugs-leading to a low median value. Specialty pharmacies are lower volume with very expensive drugs-leading to the high mean value.

     

• The low-quality research and incorrect conclusions of this report demonstrate a lack of understanding by 3 Axis Advisors of PBM compensation and the real reasons behind drug price increases.
  • Spread pricing is truly irrelevant to pharmacy reimbursement. Contracts are negotiated between PBMs and pharmacies (totally distinct from the contracts between PBMs and their clients) that dictate reimbursement.

Any medium that discusses the prescription drug supply chain and drug pricing that narrowly focuses on PBMs, while failing to include the role drug manufacturers play in setting the price of the drugs they create or the profit-seeking from other members of the supply chain, will only show an incomplete story.

Read the full fact sheet HERE.

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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 275 million patients.