Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$9.99

Available instantly

Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Paperback
$16.71

$16.71 with 7 percent savings

List Price: $18.00

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$16.71 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$11.94

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

100% satisfaction guaranteed. Ships directly from Amazons warehouse with tracking, 24/7 customer service and no-hassle returns. May qualify for free same-day delivery, Prime Two-Day Shipping and/or free standard shipping. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. Ships directly from Amazons warehouse with tracking, 24/7 customer service and no-hassle returns. May qualify for free same-day delivery, Prime Two-Day Shipping and/or free standard shipping. See less

FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$16.71 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Sold by LuxuryMerchandise (Veteran Owned) and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (28) from $3.79 + $3.98 shipping

Follow the author

Peter Kolchinsky

+ Follow

More books from this author

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

The Great American Drug Deal: A New Prescription for Innovative and Affordable Medicines Paperback – Illustrated, January 17, 2020

by Peter Kolchinsky (Author)

4.6 202 ratings

See all formats and editions

Great on Kindle

Great Experience. Great Value.

Enjoy a great reading experience when you buy the Kindle edition of this book. Learn more about Great on Kindle, available in select categories.

View Kindle Edition

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$16.71","priceAmount":16.71,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"16","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"71","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"yowjk9TfgdE%2B%2BQhrEznAGW6QimUUIcUACFEVpGemSnPfoPbQDijlBciiavk5b1CAKPW%2BVb5saKX1HtGXXIY0xrDMBXCydfRk0O157L8PWILrYJm2s67q50w6pIbpivmUIsvhJhwT9SNDrugY9yYssw%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$11.94","priceAmount":11.94,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"94","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"yowjk9TfgdE%2B%2BQhrEznAGW6QimUUIcUA3zKNJ5WUd3Z%2BlqEaaduJchd7svXBXwewaw23x32Woya0pIVy0takzu6eSJICVGERLOXQSchzuVaZCJolS384mvdW56zH%2Frx0yHo2QYhdXhrAh%2Bopj0%2FyYRpJkn5vbeUb9IS1nHPTAKgt%2BJ1COUBxgwz8TP8UICHd","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Developing life-changing drugs is risky and expensive—but that’s not what makes them unaffordable.Drug pricing is a staple of every news cycle and political debate. And while we’ve struggled for decades to agree on solutions that serve all patients without jeopardizing the invention of new medicines, many Americans suffer because they can’t afford the drugs they need.Do we really have to choose between affordability and innovation?In The Great American Drug Deal, scientist and industry expert Peter Kolchinsky answers this question with a decisive No. The pharmaceutical industry’s commitment to creating new lifesaving drugs destined to become inexpensive generics can be balanced by the healthcare system’s commitment to making those drugs affordable for all patients—a Biotech Social Contract. Through deep research and compelling stories of breakthroughs and breakdowns, Kolchinsky presents solutions for striking a balance that are bold yet realistic and tackle today’s most pressing questions, including:

Why doesn’t insurance make drugs affordable? How can we prevent price-jacking of older drugs? Why are drugs more expensive in America than elsewhere? How can we guarantee that all medicines eventually go generic so they are only temporarily expensive? What systemic failures led to the opioid crisis, and how can we prevent the next one?The Great American Drug Deal offers clear-eyed scrutiny of all players in the industry and examines vital ideas for closing loopholes, encouraging investment, dealing with bad actors, and educating consumers. It’s time we resolve to support patients and fuel discoveries that ease suffering now and for generations to come.

Frequently bought together

The Great American Drug Deal: A New Prescription for Innovative and Affordable Medicines

$16.71

Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug

$15.56

Get it as soon as Monday, May 13

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Choose items to buy together.

Nathan Vardi
494
Hardcover
73 offers from $7.89
Barry Werth
83
Paperback
48 offers from $4.34
Sally Smith Hughes
260
Paperback
48 offers from $4.43
Peter J. Neumann
18
Paperback
23 offers from $21.12
Stephanie A. Wisner
100
Paperback
6 offers from $18.62
Katherine Eban
1,355
Paperback
59 offers from $7.99

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Magnificent. Compelling. Authoritative. Every member of Congress, staffer, and researcher interested in understanding the nexus of biomedical innovation, pricing, and affordability should read The Great American Drug Deal. Kolchinsky will amaze you with his knowledge of the industry and surprise you with his unshrinking prescriptions for reform. Clear and accessible, this is the history, science, and finance class that can help American voters steer the healthcare debate."

--Amitabh Chandra, PhD
Ethel Zimmerman Wiener Professor, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; Henry and Allison McCance Family Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

"This book is not only a superb piece of scholarship, but a veritable tutorial on the background (1980-2020) of US drug pricing policies and practices, as well as those of the payers/health insurance industry. The book comes across as a common-sense, temperate manifesto on how biopharma enterprises can not only shape the future debate on drug pricing and health insurance/policy but also offers thoughtful remedies and perspectives. Kolchinsky's command of the material is superb. I liked the book's style - serious while at the same time digestible and almost colloquial in places. Notions such as a 'Public Domain Day' and 'Price-Jacking' were beautiful, delicious. So too was the book's repetitive illustration of the 'generic drug mountain.' Excellent."

--John Hawkins
Author, Conscience and Courage: How Visionary CEO Henri Termeer Built a Biotech Giant and Pioneered the Rare Disease Industry

"We are living in one of the most exciting periods of scientific innovation and drug discovery in history. Peter Kolchinsky steps past the headlines and simple rhetoric to take on directly the most challenging questions we face as a society in balancing the trade-offs between incentivizing and enabling the discovery of breakthrough medicines, and the responsibility we have in ensuring this is done in a sustainable way. This analysis elevates the discussion and offers new important thinking and actionable solutions that would benefit all stakeholders."

--Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer, Biogen

"What are we getting for what we spend in health care, and why? Read this book, which explains the workings of the pharmaceutical industry in plain language, dispelling myth after myth with facts, figures, and case studies. This long overdue review of industry workings, from brand and generic pricing, to what consumers pay for different products and services, to a greater understanding of what's truly just a cost versus what's an investment in the health of our country, including our business competitiveness internationally, was a joy to read. As a former practicing physician with a 20 year business career in health systems, health insurance payers, and the pharmaceutical industry, I found this to be refreshingly balanced and right on target with respect to looking at the facts as opposed to the hype. So, enjoy the read, and you'll never listen to debates on health care the same ever again."

--Ira Klein, MD, MBA, FACP

In this authoritative survey of the biopharmaceutical industry, a scientist and investor diagnoses current problems and prescribes solutions.

Kolchinsky initially trained as a virologist, but he joined the biotechnology industry later on, and ever since, he says, he's been on the "receiving end of a fire hose of knowledge." He sees his current work as a biotech investor as providing a valuable contribution, but part of his book's agenda is to state a mea culpa: "For too long my utopian view of the biotechnology industry omitted the perspective of patients who couldn't afford their medications." He then articulates what he calls the "Biotech Social Contract," describing the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and society. This contract would have the drug industry strive to make affordable versions of drugs (as generics), and have a health insurance industry providing universal coverage to keep costs down for patients. The author then enumerates the ways in which the contract has been breached by looking at the cryptic world of drug patents; how health insurance has the overburdened sick subsidize the more fortunate healthy; and the predatory practices of pharmacy benefit managers, who, according to the author, run "a complex shell game." His main point is that although the biotech industry gets a bad rap for hunting big profits, it's the insurance industry that's the real problem; "drug companies must charge temporarily high prices for new drugs," he argues, as long as their drugs go generic in a timely manner--but insurers, not patients, should bear that cost.

This meticulously organized and extensively supported book offers a thorough introduction to the factors and politics of drug pricing. In clear, deliberate prose, the author engages with and explains a range of concepts to lay readers. Even when Kolchinsky details rather elementary principles--one subsection is titled "How Insurance Is Supposed to Work"--he never strikes a condescending or pedantic tone. It's hard not to share his ire towards insurance companies, although many readers may see his transfer of blame from the biotech industry and pharmaceutical companies to insurance providers as a self-serving maneuver. Still, his frustration with a dysfunctional system that allows patients to slip through a "patchwork of gaps" is unquestionably warranted. In the final chapter, he calls upon the biotech industry to continue linking revenue to innovation. This lacks the righteous punch of simply stating, "Let's be ethical actors," but the writer clearly knows that his industry has to uphold its end of the bargain. Kolchinsky stocks his pages with evidence, explanatory sidebars, and clarifications in regular footnotes. Sometimes, the most interesting point gets buried in the fine print. For instance, in one footnote, the author addresses a hot-button issue of the feasibility of a single-payer system. In the main text, he states that the single-payer model is "beyond the scope of this book," but he expresses a firmer opinion in the footnote: "Basically, for a country the size of America, a single-payer system is likely only appealing in theory...but would be a tragedy of human incompetence in practice."

A serious, impassioned, and informed call for change.

--Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Peter Kolchinsky is a biotechnology investor and a scientist. He co-founded and runs the Boston-based investment firm RA Capital Management, writes and teaches about biomedical entrepreneurship and its potential to transform global health, serves on the boards of several public and private drug development companies, and has served on the Board of Global Science and Technology for the National Academies of Science. He lives in Massachusetts with his historian wife, strong-willed children, and reasonably well-trained dog.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Evelexa Press; Illustrated edition (January 17, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1733058915
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1733058919
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.73 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #221,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #33 in Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Industry (Books)
- #87 in Health Policy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 202 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Peter Kolchinsky

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Peter Kolchinsky, PhD, is a biotechnology investor and a scientist. He co-founded and runs the Boston-based investment firm RA Capital Management, writes and teaches about biomedical entrepreneurship and its potential to transform global health, serves on the boards of several private and public drug development companies, and lives in Massachusetts with his historian/equestrian wife, strong-willed children, and reasonably well-trained dog.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

202 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Max N.

An important read for this moment in time

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2020

Verified Purchase

The GADD is not just a good read. It is an important read at a fragile moment.

Through clear writing, relatable analogies, and a procedural construction of a faceted argument, Peter Kolchinsky explains and contextualizes our very complicated healthcare system, its various parts, and the highly charged drug pricing debate that threatens to undermine innovation and scientific progress. By making the system and debate accessible, he is enfranchising those impacted - meaning, all of us - to have a voice in them.

I appreciated that Peter did not just posit ideas; he also proposed solutions, and, importantly, solutions that require compromise. It would be easy to be cynical and say that Peter’s book is simply “pitching his book” (to borrow a phrase from the investment management world that he is a part of). While he clearly believes, and cogently argues, that the payer system has a unique set of misalignments that need to be remedied, he is not pointing the finger solely at the insurance industry. He recognizes that the biopharma industry has to do its part as well. Taking ownership of the narrative about the biopharma industry's value-add, as this book successfully does, is a tool that the industry needs to utilize in order to reset the drug pricing debate to a neutral position.

I enjoyed the bit of self-reflection and personal history that he interweaves, particularly in the beginning when he sets the stage by explaining how his own viewpoint has evolved from abstract idealist to tangible realist. I would have gladly read more about that personal history. I also valued some of the nuanced distinctions he makes, including expensiveness vs. affordability and what “long term” means to different parts of this system.

Last but not least, the impactful graphics provide a helpful visualization tool that supports how the written argument unfolds.

This is a book I will continue to reference and come back to.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

David Sable

Essential reading for understanding the US healthcare finance and the business of pharma and biotech

Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2020

Verified Purchase

My students think the best part of my Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology class is when I shut up and let my guest speakers take over. I hate to admits it, but they are right: I have convinced some pretty amazing people to travel to Morningside Heights to tell their stories, fleshing out the real-world life sciences concepts that we discuss in the abstract.

One of the more memorable guests was Peter Kolchinsky, founding partner of RA Capital Management, who met with the class back in 2013. Peter walked us through his journey from basic science (he has a PhD in virology) to the buy side. He could have spoken for an extra hour and no one would have moved.

Fast forward to now, and the release of The Great American Drug Deal, an examination of prescription drug pricing in the United States, in which Peter attempts to solve simultaneous equations, for medical innovation and healthcare system affordability.

The book builds off of his provocative Medium series on what he terms the Biotech Social Contract, an idealized framework where patients, through their insurance coverage, subsidize pharmaceutical innovation with premium pricing during the protected, on-patent period, after which drugs become part of an ever-growing, readily available, affordable, and accessible inventory of treatments, a public asset that compounds in value over time. Unlike new surgical techniques that patients pay for each time they are used, or physician expertise or facilities that command consistent economic rent, the growing stock of generic drugs provide a means by which the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries can pay society back for financing the high upfront drug development costs.

Sound familiar? No? It turns out the idealized world of the Social Contract bears little resemblance to a world where even insured patients have to routinely forego needed treatment because they are unaffordable, where the structural aspects of drug distribution and reimbursement have become so convoluted and the “people over profits” incentives have long since disappeared. The social contract of 2020 is no contract at all. Insurance coverage has become one more type of payment program, one that still denies access to necessary and often life-saving treatment for those who cannot jump the copayment hurdles. The drug companies, in concert with pharmacy benefit managers, price to maximal margins, then construct a duct tape and paper clip patient assistance safety net. Premium pricing is protected even beyond patent expiration, generic drugs morph from widely available commodities to supply-constrained scarcities.

The Great American Drug Deal examines the disconnect between the idealized Social Contract and the realities of our current system, one that is often hostile to patients and results in a pharmaceutical industry vilified by those outside it. He offers a roadmap to restoring the purity of the generic drug model and thus re-establishing the equilibrium that justifies temporary market dominance: a period high prices, made affordable by insurance, followed by commoditization ever after. The book is a thoughtful and creative approach to discussion of one our most pressing and timely healthcare problems. Highly recommended.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Nat K

Excellent, informative read for both pros and non-experts alike

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

If you are interested in how we can make health care affordable for all without jeopardizing innovation, this is the book for you. Deductibles, other out-of pocket costs and co-pays for medicines are sometimes so high that my elderly parents and I sometimes opt out of picking up a prescription because it's just too expensive. Kolchinsky explains why these costs are so high, how they came to be passed on to patients and he proposes the most effective solution to this problem so many Americans face - significantly lowering if not completely eliminating out-of-pocket costs for patients, while not jeopardizing innovation by ensuring that medicines go generic without undue delay. His writing style is comprehensible, direct, it's as though he is having a dialogue with the reader, knowing how we might respond to his ideas and arguments, and addresses the pros and cons of alternatives. You will come away well-educated on what works and does not work in the current U.S. healthcare system, with a great understanding of the role of biotech in medicine, and especially our future and that of our children if we do not take action to change the status quo.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to educate themselves on the topic, and for those who really think they have their minds made up about how drug pricing should be handled... until they read Kolchinsky's thoroughly researched, data-driven perspective - that of a fellow concerned American, scientist, teacher, father, husband and son who wants everyone to afford and have access to excellent, life-saving healthcare.

Helpful

Eric Wexler

Focused Understanding of Pricing Drug Therapies

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2020

Well thought out argument for drug pricing over the lifetime of use from patent protected to generic timeline. Good insight into the benefits of incremental improvements. Hope the next book introduces how this can actually be implemented with the current and expected political and educational divisiveness. This undertaking is by no means assured and may be multigenerational marathon.

Helpful

Return this item for free

Return this item for free

Follow the author

Image Unavailable