As Germany's insurers try out new drug reimbursement tactics, innovative pharmas have responded with novel, brand-boosting payor deals of their own. The evolution of these payor-pharma deals in Germany should inform reimbursement strategies elsewhere--including in the US where similar trends are starting to emerge.

J&J's Velcade and Celgene's Revlimid illustrate how pharma has adapted to the NICE UK cost-effectiveness watchdog. Now that the UK precedents exist, there will be more to come. But are they really pharma's ticket to increased access, and do they assure the value to the health care system that they claim?

The year 2008 won't go down as the bleakest for new chemical entity drug launches. After all, FDA did approve 24 novel biologics and new molecular entities in 2008, more than in any of the three years prior. But the NCEs that hit the market were in niche categories or crowded markets, and did little to energize flagging pharmaceutical sales. Take a look back at 2008 drug launches and fears that the traditional blockbuster is dead seem well founded. This article first appeared in The Pink Sheet on January 12, 2009.