Peter Loftus

I do think that Western companies and investors are becoming more aware of what's being developed in China.

So I spoke to a consultant who advises both companies and investors on various deals of all kinds.

And one of the things that he told me is that

Now, when, say, an investor or a big company wants to invest in or license the rights to a drug from a smaller company, even if that smaller company is in the U.S., they're doing a lot more due diligence about whether that same drug category is being developed in China.

And so it's affecting those investment decisions that are basically asking the question of whether, say, an American or European biotech is really as cutting edge as

as it seems to be.

There is a segment of patients that just either doesn't have insurance or doesn't have great insurance.

And so sometimes it's to their advantage for the companies to offer those patients a significant cash discount because otherwise they might not even get their business at all.

It often starts with a website that the drug manufacturers have set up.

Patients can go there if they already have a prescription from the doctor or they could actually connect you with certain doctors, which then could eventually lead to ordering that company's drug or maybe another company's drug.

The price is often discounted and they could order the drug online like you would go through Amazon to do and then have it delivered to your home.

There is a segment of patients that just either doesn't have insurance or doesn't have great insurance.

And so sometimes it's to their advantage for the companies to offer those patients a significant cash discount because otherwise they might not even get their business at all.

You know, this has become particularly popular recently.

For the weight loss drugs, there's sort of intrinsic demand from patients.

They want to be on this drug.

But also, there's still not great insurance coverage.

And so they would normally, you know, they would have to pay the full list price, which could be like $1,000 a month or more.

The manufacturers are saying, we can offer you a discount that brings it down to, you know, as low as $150, $200 a month, because it's better than not getting any business from the patient, essentially.

Pharmacy benefit managers, which are companies that administer drug benefit plans on behalf of insurers or your employer plan.