The latest update by the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to national health care spending forecasts continues to put prescription drugs in line with – or even slightly below – overall growth rates. Of course, that likely won’t change the political attention to the issue in 2022.

Preliminary data from IQVIA suggest 2020 was one of the weakest in recent years for new launch trajectories although drug companies tell Scrip there are some lessons learned from promoting during the pandemic.

Annual large US employer health benefits survey also evaluates plans for managing the cost of cell and gene therapies in the coming years, anticipating growing use of outcomes-based contracts, but very limited uptake of payment-over-time models.