Weight-loss price wars breaking big pharma’s business model

Wall Street Journal: As insurers and employers moved slowly, patients bypassed the system entirely, turning to cash payments.  This shift—combined with persistent brand-name shortages—opened the door for telehealth firms and compounded “copycats,” introducing cutthroat price competition years earlier than the industry expected.

Drugmakers were ultimately forced to respond with lower prices. They needed cash prices low enough to fend off compounders and to reach uninsured patients at scale. They also later reached a deal with the Trump administration to lower prices in exchange for broader access, including Medicare coverage for millions of seniors…