Skyrocketing Prices Fuel Drive for Fresh Crackdown on Drug Costs

Drug pricing advocates fresh off a major win say they’re turning their attention to changes for pharmaceutical industry middlemen and to curbing high launch prices for new medicines.

These changes take aim at areas left out of the sweeping drug pricing legislation (Public Law 117-169) that Democrats passed this summer. Now, advocates say it’s time to address the role of pharmaceutical benefit managers and the growing price of innovative new drugs.

“This is just the beginning,” said Merith Basey, who as of Monday is the new executive director of the nonprofit Patients for Affordable Drugs.

The cost of medicine ...