Welcome to the Week in Review.
1. Big Pharma Caught In Contradiction
- Big drug companies continue to drum up bold lies regarding the impact of the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). This is despite the overwhelming evidence pointing towards the law as an important conduit for delivering financial relief to patients, while also maintaining critical levels of investment in innovation. Drug company executives, who are beholden to investors, recently stated that Medicare drug price negotiations were “encouraging” and would have “modest impact.” At the same time, several pharma companies have launched aggressive lawsuits attempting to dismantle Medicare negotiations, arguing that the program will deter investments and hurt revenue. In The Hill, P4AD’s Merith Basey called out the hypocrisy of drug industry executives and allies who are talking out of both sides of their mouths: “We know that the impact of the IRA is not going to affect their bottom line in the way that they like to cry poor every time anyone tries to touch anything that gets in the way of their monopoly power.” Lower negotiated drug prices will not make a dent in Big Pharma’s huge profit margins, while delivering transformative relief to patients. “A few hundred dollars is a massive difference for one individual,” Merith continued. “Again, this is about ordinary people.” It’s evident that investments in drug development are not slowing down. So far this year, 21 biotech startups have received hundreds of millions of dollars in investments from venture capitalists. This juggling act displays Big Pharma’s lack of credibility and demonstrates their intention as clear as day: preserving monopoly pricing power at the expense of patients. — (Endpoints, Endpoints, The Hill, The Hill, Endpoints)
2. The Growing Impact Of The Inflation Reduction Act
- Patients continue to reap the benefits of the groundbreaking drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act. The number of vaccines administered to adults in the first nine months of 2023 exceeded pre-pandemic levels, largely thanks to the new vaccine provision introduced last year, which provides coverage without patient cost-sharing of certain recommended vaccines for people on Medicare Part D. “This underscores the importance of preventive health care and emphasizes the overall benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act in guaranteeing that Medicare patients receive accessible, affordable high-quality care,” the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson LaTanya Marble told Politico. The drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act are directly addressing the urgent needs of patients living in the U.S. who pay on average nearly three times more for their medications than residents in other peer nations. — (Politico, Commonwealth Fund)
3. The Power of Public Pressure
- Earlier this week, AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) responded to increased pressure and scrutiny from patients and lawmakers by announcing plans to cap out-of-pocket costs for some of their inhaler products at $35 a month. This move follows in the footsteps of Boehringer Ingelheim, which made a similar commitment earlier this month. The spotlight has been on the egregious price hikes of inhaler medications over the past year, prompting both the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to call out the four major inhaler companies for patent abuse tactics that drive up prices and delay lower-cost competition. For example, AstraZeneca’s Breztri Aerosphere inhaler costs $645 in the U.S. compared to just $49 in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and GSK’s Advair HFA inhaler costs $319 in the U.S., while it is sold for only $26 in the U.K. These decisions by drugmakers to cap costs mark a significant milestone for some patients who rely on these medicines to manage conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Jennifer, a patient advocate in Colorado, wrote to us about her experience with breathing complications, which led her to a prescription for an inhaler costing $495. “How could I pay for that regularly plus my mortgage, utilities, car insurance, gas to get to work, and the premium on my health insurance?” Her story is one of many shared experiences we’ve heard from patients who are forced to go without their inhaler medications due to cost. We urge Teva, the last of the four major inhaler companies, to immediately follow suit and reduce copay costs for patients. — (The Hill, Reuters, Common Dreams, CNN, FTC)
PRICE WATCH: Lenmeldy, a new life-saving gene therapy for the genetic disorder metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) will be the most expensive drug in the world at $4.25 million. Innovation is worthless if patients can’t afford it — we urgently need to address the high launch prices of transformative cell and gene therapies coming to market.
Have a great weekend!