Drugmakers Are Embracing Direct

"By embracing a DTC sales model, pharmaceutical companies and the patients that consume their drugs can essentially cut PBMs and other middlemen out of the picture," writes Pipes. getty

Several Big Pharma companies have started selling their drugs directly to consumers (DTC). This shift -- driven in part by President Trump's push for lower drug prices and fewer middlemen -- has garnered relatively little media coverage. But the implications for American patients, employers, and the healthcare system as a whole are enormous.

Over the past two decades, the DTC sales model has revolutionized the way Americans buy everything from mattresses to contact lenses. If DTC sales become the norm in the pharmaceutical industry, patients and employers could save tens of billions of dollars -- by cut