COVID-19 has changed our world. Here's two new drug dashboards to explore it.
Well, a lot has changed in the last couple weeks. The COVID-19 pandemic just rudely pulled the rug out from under everyone. Amid the disruption and chaos of adapting to shutdowns, late last week, the 46brooklyn team started thinking about how we could shift our efforts and use our platform to provide some more help during this time of crisis.
With most of our generic drugs made in China and India, concerns about drug shortages are naturally rising. Unfortunately, no amount of data analysis can systematically pinpoint which drugs are at highest risk of shortage. That’s because information on where the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in our drugs are made is hidden from public view. We must place our trust in the FDA (who clearly has this information) to do everything in its power to maintain ample supply of critical drugs in this country.
But the FDA is not alone in its efforts. All across this country, we have been humbled to witness the tireless efforts of researchers and members of the media who are trying to piece together this drug supply chain puzzle to help identify where potential risks and weak points may lie.
We were motivated to help assist these people in their noble efforts. So we wondered, could we use public drug pricing data as a “flashlight” that could help guide the efforts of researchers wandering through the dark and vast interconnectedness of the drug supply chain in hopes of finding information that can help Americans through this crisis?
After working through and tossing out many ideas, we settled on two dashboards:
A rebuild of our Medicaid Drug Market Share Dashboard to better assist those researching market concentration by FDA application sponsor and labeler
A new Abnormal Drug Price Increase Tracker dashboard that identifies generic drugs experiencing “abnormal” price increases, as measured by National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC)
Our latest report walks through how to use these new tools, and provides warnings on how to use, and how not to use these tools.
Our hope is that these new dashboards can help highlight the fragile nature of our drug supply chain, and how drugmaker market share and abnormal price increases can provide needed flashlights into the dark corners of our drug distribution system.
If you are noticing abnormal pricing behaviors or supply issues, please be sure to let us know.
Thanks to all the healthcare workers, grocers, delivery drivers, and other people pitching in during this time period.
Please exercise proper distancing, cleanliness, rest, and care over the next few weeks. For those of you with kids at home, please send teaching tips.