Blues attack pharma innovation

Washington, D.C. - Instead of developing innovative, break-through therapies, pharmaceutical companies devote most of their resources to modifying existing medications, according to the latest report from the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM). Release of the study further escalated already heightened rhetoric between health plans and drug makers over rising drug costs. "Highly innovative drugs are rare," said Nancy Chockley, president of NIHCM, which is supported primarily by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assns.