Welcome to the Week in Review.
DOJ Defends Medicare Negotiations
The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) took the first step in defending Medicare negotiation in court. On Wednesday, the DOJ filed a brief in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the Novartis case, maintaining the government’s legal defense of the Medicare negotiation program – for now. Notably, this is the first DOJ brief under the Trump Administration, and it remains largely unchanged from previous filings, signaling that the government is standing with the program against Big Pharma’s multi-million dollar legal assault. This is an encouraging sign for the nine million patients on Medicare who are expected to save at least $1.5 billion out-of-pocket in the first year. However, this fight is far from over. Several industry-backed lawsuits still threaten the program, and with a critical February 28th deadline approaching for drugmakers to agree to negotiate in the next round, PhRMA’s pressure campaign is in full force. Patients fought hard for this law – and we will continue to hold the administration accountable to ensure it delivers the savings millions of Americans are counting on. — (Politico, O’Neill Institute, Inside Health Policy, STAT, Axios, FightPharma.org, P4AD)
Push For Competition Bills & Defending Medicare Negotiations
With a new Congress in session, there is a critical opportunity to continue to advance reforms that lower drug prices. Last Congress, P4AD championed a slate of bipartisan bills to curb anti-competitive practices by drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), including:
- The Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act limits the number of patents a drug company can assert on biologics. It would save taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion over 10 years.
- A key provision within the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act, which expedites generic drug approvals and is projected to generate $871 million in savings over 10 years.
- The Modernizing and Ensuring PBM Accountability Act, which delinks PBM revenue from drug prices in Part D and boosts pricing transparency.
Millions of patients are counting on lawmakers to revive these reforms and pass them into law to rein in the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs and reduce taxpayer spending. At the same time, Big Pharma and its allies are aggressively pushing legislation to undermine Medicare negotiations. The recently re-introduced Orphan CURES Act would expand the Medicare negotiation exemption beyond drugs with a single orphan disease designation to those with multiple indications, giving drugmakers more power to inflate prices. Meanwhile, the EPIC Act, which is expected to be re-introduced, would extend the negotiation exemption period for small-molecule drugs from nine to 13 years – keeping prices high for longer. Pharma is framing both bills as pro-innovation, but in reality, they are blatant attempts to protect monopoly pricing at the expense of patients. Lawmakers must reject these industry-backed measures and instead deliver the bold reforms that Americans overwhelmingly support. — (Congress.gov, CBO, Congress.gov, CBO, Congress.gov, P4ADNow, Congress.gov, STAT, P4ADNow)
Drugmakers Meet With President Trump — Patients Excluded
Big Pharma is cozying up to President Trump while patients are shut out. Yesterday, drug industry executives from PhRMA sat down with President Trump for a third time to push their agenda to weaken the 2022 prescription drug law and keep drug prices high. Meanwhile, patients who are most harmed by drug pricing policy have yet to be granted a seat at the table. Make no mistake: PhRMA’s so-called commitment to “innovation and affordability” is nothing more than a smokescreen for their all-out assault on the drug price provisions in the IRA which they’ve openly declared is their top priority, The drug industry has spent millions buying access to the administration, but patients won’t stop fighting to protect the reforms they fought for — and we’re watching to see whether Trump follows through on his promise to lower drug prices or caves to Big Pharma’s influence. — (Reuters, Fierce Healthcare, The Wall Street Journal, MedPage Today)
In Case You Missed It
At a White House event yesterday, following President Trump’s meeting with PhRMA executives, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was met with loud boos from the audience as he was introduced. One can safely assume this reaction underscores the deep frustration Americans feel toward Big Pharma’s greed, as drug companies continue to prioritize profits over patients while millions struggle to afford their medications.
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