Welcome to the week in review in prescription drug pricing.
1. Pharma’s GOP force field dissolving
- Republicans are eyeing patent reform to lower drug prices. — (Axios)
2. Coast to coast
- In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to leverage California’s buying power to negotiate drug prices in the state’s massive Medicaid program. Massachusetts Republican governor Charlie Baker wants drug corporations to come to the bargaining table, too. — (KHN & The Boston Globe )
3. Too Much Is Never Enough
- Vertex and England have been locked in a battle for three years over the price of the company’s charity-funded cystic fibrosis medicines. As patients suffer, Vertex says it just can’t offer a deal — even after reporting that Q4 profit doubled. — (The Guardian)
4. Our heroes
- P4AD named two more drug pricing heroes this week — read more about Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ohio resident and cancer patient Bob Fowler — (P4AD)
5. Required reading
- Settle in over the weekend for a deep dive into why drugs are so expensive. — (NY Review of Books)