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`/
`
`M AY 10, 2012 @ 09:54 AM
`
`52,298 VIEW S
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`Top 20 Stocks for 2016
`
`M atthew H erper
`,FO RBES STAFF
`I cover science and
`m edicine, and believe this is
`biology's century.
`
`FO LLO W O N FO RBES (2081)
`
`
`FU LL BIO
`
`The free market is alive and
`well when it comes to drug
`prices – if you’re an insurance
`company or a government
`program. But not if you’re a
`consumer.
`
`Top-selling pharmaceuticals,
`protected by patents, often
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`seem priced in a manner that
`has little to do with the laws of
`supply and demand. Want that
`new cholesterol medicine
`($2,000 per year), that cancer
`treatment ($60,000 per year)
`, or the medicine for your
`child’s rare disease ($300,000
`per year)? No negotiation. It’s
`your money or your life.
`
`Recom m ended by Forbes
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`But in fact drug companies are
`constantly negotiating, not
`with individuals but with
`payers – Medicare, Medicaid,
`insurers such as United Health
`Care and Aetna
` and
`AET -4.81%
`pharmacy benefit plans such
`as Express Scripts
`.
`ESRX -7.59%
`They don’t reduce the price of
`their medicines. Instead, the
`drug firms pay rebates after
`the fact. For Medicaid, the
`price decreases are mandated
`by law, but everywhere else,
`free market forces are very
`much in effect. Me too drugs
`and those facing patent
`expiration have to deal with
`bigger rebates. Drug firms
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`
`annual price increases are partly a way to deal with all this rebating.
`Of course, if you’re a person without health insurance buying
`medicines at the counter of Walgreen
`‘s, you’re stuck with the
`list price.
`
`W AG +%
`
`Rebates cut about $40 billion out of the drug industry’s sales every
`year, says Pratap Khedkar, a principal at pharma marketing
`consultancy ZS Associates. We know that because the drug industry
`reports both its gross sales (before the rebates) and net sales (after
`the rebates are taken out). The size of the rebate average about 30%
`of a medicines sales, Khedkar says, and can be as low as single digits
`or as higher than 50% of gross sales.
`
`“These may not be visible to the consumer,” says Khedkar. “But
`between the insurance company and the pharma company, it is a very
`efficient free market.”
`
`W hat D rug Com panies G ive Back
`D rug
`IM S estim ated
`Com pany
`U.S. sales
`reported U.S.
`($Bil)
`Sales ($Bil)
`
`Estim ated
`rebates (% )
`
`Lipitor
`Plavix
`N exium
`Abilify
`Advair
`Seroquel
`
`$7.7
`$6.8
`$6.2
`$5.2
`$4.6
`$4.6
`
`$5.0
`$6.6
`$2.4
`$4.0
`$4.0
`$3.3
`
`$3.5
`$4.6
`Singulair
`$3.1
`$4.4
`Crestor
`$3.2
`$3.7
`Cym balta
`$3.4
`$3.5
`H um ira
`Sources: IM S H ealth, com pany statem ents, analyst reports
`
`35%
`3%
`61%
`24%
`13%
`27%
`
`23%
`30%
`14%
`2%
`
`No company reports how much of the gross sales of an individual
`drug are being given back to the payers. But there is a way to peer
`into the hidden world of pharma rebates. Every year, IMS Health, the
`prescription data tracking service, publishes its own lists of the most
`prescribed and the top-selling medicines in the country. But IMS’
`data capture gross sales at pharmacies, before the rebates happen. By
`comparing the gross sales reported by IMS to the sales the companies
`report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, it’s possible to get
`an idea of how much of a medicine’s gross sales are being given back
`
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`in the form of rebates.
`
`22
`
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`/
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`JAN 13, 2016 @ 08:49 AM
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`Peter Kelly-
`D etw iler
`, CO N TRIBU TO R
`I cover the energy industry.
`
`FO LLO W O N FO RBES (227)
`
`
`O pinions expressed by Forbes
`Contributors are their ow n.
`
`FU LL BIO
`
`2015 was a very big year for
`battery storage in the
`electricity industry. Numerous
`storage projects were
`announced, many start-ups
`expanded their reach, and
`
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`
`Tesla unveiled its PowerWall
`to much pomp and
`circumstance.
`
`Almost lost in the noise were
`the statements of some very
`large and established
`companies that they were also
`moving into the storage space.
`Sharp and Johnson Controls
`announced their storage
`ambitions early in the fourth
`quarter of 2015, and with deep
`pockets and strong name
`recognition, each has
`enormous potential throw-
`weight in the industry if they
`make the right moves.
`
`And right at the end of the year
`in – the middle of the COP 21
`meetings in Paris – Schneider
`Electric introduced its own
`promising scalable lithium-ion
`based storage system:
`EcoBlade.
`
`Like most lithium-ion storage
`systems for the grid and
`commercial/industrial
`customers, the EcoBlade is
`modular, so that building
`blocks can be configured to
`meet specific needs. However,
`what makes this storage
`system different is its form
`factor, size and shape: it is
`nearly identical to an IT server
`computer. The design derives
`
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`
`from Schneider Electric’s extensive experience serving the IT
`industry. The EcoBlade system contains ‘blades’ much like those
`stacked in a server rack. According to Schneider Electric’s press
`release, each of these blades weighs less than 25 kilograms
`(approximately 55 pounds) and is similar in shape to a 30” flat screen
`television.
`
`Image: Schneider Electric – for your home
`
`And while a single blade has the electronics necessary to allow it to
`serve in standalone mode – in a home, for example – the blades can
`also be stacked in racks to yield the capacity and energy required for
`heavy-duty use in datacenters and buildings, or for service to the
`power grid at substations.
`
`As with any storage system, though, the batteries are simply the
`repositories for electrons. They don’t know what to do, or when to do
`it –when to charge and discharge – without a supervisory function
`overseeing their activity. In Schneider Electric’s case, this intelligence
`comes in a cloud-based suite of software services called
`StruxureWare, which integrates multiple information feeds to
`optimize the EcoBlade’s performance.
`
`7 of 10
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`
`Recom m ended by Forbes
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`That compares very favorably with current estimates for competing
`technologies. For example, a 10 kWh Tesla Powerwall from Solar City
`costs $3,500, but if you add in the cost of inverter and labor, with full
`installation costs you are in the range of $7,100, or $710 per kWh
`(Solar City also offers its lease or Power Purchase Agreement
`customers a nine-year contract for $4,000). Schneider Electric’s
`$500/kWh installed price also compares very favorably with the most
`recent estimates from Lux Research, at around $800 per kWh. At
`present, the installed cost of the EcoBlade would be among the lowest
`in the industry.
`
`Com m ent on this story
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`
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`
`Remove Your
`Eye Bags In
`Under 2
`
`Forget the
`iPhone 7. Next
`Apple Sensation
`
`Ever Googled
`Someone? Do A
`"Deep Search"
`
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`Kill Stomach Fat
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