We’re launching drug pricing news into your orbit no matter the forecast! Welcome to the Week In Review.
1. Hold the Applause
A change to the payment model on out-of-pocket insulin costs for some Medicare beneficiaries President Trump announced this week fell far short of expectations. America needs more from its leaders to relieve the crushing financial burden born from rising prescription drug prices, and there are better solutions on the table that will help more Americans afford vital medicines. — (STAT)
2. We Deserve a Say
Tens of millions of public dollars bankrolled the creation of Gilead’s remdesivir, a potential COVID-19 blockbuster. Yet the Big Pharma behemoth retains total control on setting a price. It’s plain wrong, and the public deserves to have a say on this potential pandemic drug’s final price. — (The Washington Post)
3. Set up to Pay Twice
Pharma giant Merck announced Tuesday that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority has promised $38 million toward the development of its COVID-19 vaccine. Once again, taxpayers are footing the bill for a vaccine without any guarantee that the final product will be affordable and accessible to everyone. — (FiercePharma)
4. “We must lift up our voices”
“The government’s unwillingness to take action on drug pricing has been the struggle of my life,” writes Clayton “DJ” Martin, who lives with sickle cell disease. “If Big Pharma is allowed to retain systemic control of the drug industry during this pandemic, it will not be just you or me that suffer the consequences, but the country as a whole.” We agree with Martin on the dire need for drug affordability during COVID-19 and always. — (The Orlando Sentinel)
5. Pharma Amps Up Drug Ad Spending in Midst of Pandemic
Sure, drugmakers could lower list prices as the country’s citizens reel from the economic impact of a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis –– but instead, they’re taking advantage of a quarantined audience, pouring millions of dollars into TV ads in April alone. — (FiercePharma)
Nobody puts drug pricing in a corner. Welcome to the Week In Review!
1. Don’t Squander Public Goodwill
Pharma’s top brass have embarked on a feel-good press tour in an attempt to revive the industry’s heartless drug pricing image. Let’s remember what CEOs like J&J’s Alex Gorsky forget to mention: The large government contracts companies are receiving are a public investment. The people must have a say in the price of the drugs they bring to market. — (Kaiser Health News)
2. We’ll Have Lower Drug Prices, Fries, and a Coke
President Trump restated his interest in signing into law legislation to lower drug prices after Senator Chuck Grassley asked at a lunch Tuesday if the president still wants the Senate to put a drug pricing bill on his desk. We agree with Senator Grassley, who is lead sponsor of the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act, and President Trump — Congress must take up the charge and move to pass meaningful drug pricing legislation. It’s more critical now than ever. — (The Hill)
3. Taxpayers Up COVID-19 Ante
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sending up to $1.2 billion in taxpayer funds to AstraZeneca to support development and production of a COVID-19 vaccine. Taxpayers are vital business partners in accelerating the development of drugs for the novel coronavirus. In return, we need transparency into AstraZeneca’s spending, pricing, and profits. — (Reuters)
4. We’ve Got it Backwards
Our drug pricing system is broken, with governments fueling and funding innovation and then relinquishing that knowledge and those funds to private hands behind closed doors. The system places profits and corporate intellectual property rights ahead of the public good and has left the world unprepared for this pandemic — or the next. — (STAT)
5. Affordability Always
We don’t even know if Moderna’s vaccine candidate prevents COVID-19 in humans, but analysts are already talking about how the company could hike vaccine prices after the current pandemic subsides. Wall Street shouldn’t determine the price of a drug taxpayers are paying to create, and high drug prices will hurt Americans pandemic or no pandemic. We’ll be watching. — (Barron’s)
WASHINGTON, DC — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now sent a letter to Capitol Hill this week urging Congress to focus on three topics in upcoming COVID-19 legislative packages: ensuring taxpayer investment into COVID-19 drugs is factored into prices, helping the nation prepare for future public health emergencies, and addressing the high list prices of prescription drugs as Americans struggle with the impact of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 did not make high drug prices go away — it worsened the crisis for patients,” the letter states. “Every dollar we pay in unjustified profits to drug corporations is a dollar we could use to support ordinary Americans whose health and economic well-being has been devastated by this pandemic. If we had unlimited resources as a nation, these choices wouldn’t matter. But we don’t.”
The letter, addressed to congressional leaders in the House and the Senate and signed by patients from all 50 states, calls for congressional action in three key areas:
Ensure taxpayers have a say in COVID-19 drug pricing. Since March, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded more than $1.2 billion to the pharmaceutical industry for COVID-19 drugs — with no stipulations on fair pricing. As partners in the scientific and funding processes, American taxpayers deserve a say in the price.
Prioritize long-term incentives for infectious disease research over short-sighted giveaways to the drug industry. Pharma does not need new incentives to develop COVID-19 drugs. The federal government is bankrolling research, sponsoring clinical trials, and eliminating all liability for drug corporations investing in COVID-19 drugs, and the pandemic’s global impact guarantees billions of buyers. Instead, Congress should invest in and incentivize research to prevent and prepare for future infectious disease outbreaks.
Lower drug prices now. The COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened the drug pricing crisis in the United States. Alongside soaring unemployment numbers, 27 million Americans could lose employer-based health insurance, exposing many of them to high list prices. Congress must take long-awaited action on drug prices immediately.
Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is an independent, bipartisan patient organization focused on policies to lower drug prices. P4ADNow does not accept funding from any organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs.
Take a break from baking sourdough, churning butter, and screaming into the void. Read the Week in Review in Drug Pricing!
1. On the Double:Give Taxpayers A Say
Taxpayers are mega-funders for Moderna’s research into a COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most promising options on the table. We applaud the investment in development, but taxpayers must have a final say in any resulting drug price. – (Patients For Affordable Drugs)
2. COVID-19 Did Not Make High Drug Prices Go Away
Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Braun of Indiana point out that drug prices are still high, and COVID-19 will only make the problem worse for hard-working Americans. There is still time for Congress to act via the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. — (The Washington Examiner)
3. We Shouldn’t Pay Twice
The House this week introduced a $3 trillion COVID-19 relief package. But lawmakers missed the mark on drug pricing reform when they appropriated billions more for drug development without including reasonable pricing guidelines. Congressional relief packages need stronger guardrails to protect taxpayers from pandemic profiteering. — (Bloomberg Law)
4. Transparency Triumphs in Minnesota!
On Tuesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a bipartisan bill that requires pharmaceutical companies to report and explain significant drug price increases to the state or face a daily $10k fine. Patients applaud state legislators and the governor for fighting for all Minnesotans! — (Star Tribune)
5. Maryland Governor Bows to Big Pharma with Veto
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan vetoed a measure to provide funding for the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board, an entity lawmakers created in 2019 to assess drug price increases and make drug prices more affordable for state and local governments. We expect more from the governor and call on the state’s legislature to right his wrong at the first opportunity. — (Maryland Matters)
We’re not sure if X Æ A-12 is the name of a child or a new prescription drug, but we can tell you the latest in this week’s drug pricing news. Welcome to the Week in Review!
1. Pharma Sees Dollar Signs Ahead
Gilead Sciences, maker of the experimental COVID-19 drug remdesivir, spent a company record-setting $2.45 million lobbying Washington in the first quarter of the year. As the lobbying money flowed, a provision in Congress’ COVID relief bill that required taxpayer-funded drugs to be affordable hit the cutting room floor. Coincidence? We think not. — (NPR)
2. Pandemic Price Hike: Called Out
Two House representatives called out drug company Jaguar Health this week after it hiked the price of the anti-diarrheal drug Mytesi by 220 percent. Jaguar Health had been seeking government approval for Mytesi to be prescribed for COVID-19 patients. Hmmmm. — (Reuters)
3. People Before Profit
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) announced that a fair list price for remdesivir could be as high as $4,500 per patient, which could result in billions of dollars in profit for Gilead Sciences from a publicly funded drug. Any pricing strategy for remdesivir must be transparent to taxpayers and ensure the drug is affordable for everyone. — (Business Insider)
4. It All Adds Up
Rheumatoid arthritis patients have been slammed with steady price increases for biologic medications, resulting in fewer savings for patients from the closure of the Medicare donut hole than anticipated, a new analysis found. Researchers from Vanderbilt University are calling for out-of-pocket maximums and limits on yearly cost increases to help patients afford their prescription drugs. We couldn’t agree more. — (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)
5. Be on the ? Out For COVID-19 Vaccine Monopolies
Public funds are the backbone of pharmaceutical research – especially when it comes to vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. As taxpayers, we must remain vigilant and demand these products come to market at an affordable price for all patients. — (Business Insider)
Just Amash up of this week’s drug pricing news! Welcome to the Week In Review.
1. Memo to Pharma: A Pandemic is NOT a Pay Day
Patients For Affordable Drugs scrutinized Johnson & Johnson’s promise to offer a “not-for-profit” COVID-19 vaccine and found that offer to be more than a little misleading. P4AD will continue to hold pharmaceutical corporations to account as the pandemic — and vaccines and treatments to curtail it – unfold. – (P4AD)
2. The People Want Drug Pricing Reform
A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of adults in the U.S. have reported increases in the costs of prescription drugs since 2017, and one-third of U.S. adults consider a candidate’s position on lowering drug costs a top issue at the ballot box. As members of Congress work to navigate COVID-19, they would be well advised to keep pushing for federal drug pricing reforms. — (Gallup)
3. Minnesota Momentum
After an April victory for insulin affordability for Minnesotans, state lawmakers moved forward a separate bipartisan drug pricing plan that would require increased transparency measures to prevent unjustifiable price hikes. — (St. James Plaindealer)
4. Priced too High
The new cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta is a game-changer for patients with the life-shortening genetic disease. However, drug pricing watchdog ICER found the monopoly drugmaker, Vertex, gave the medication an unfair price tag that burdens patients and families with millions of dollars in lifetime costs. Drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them. — (STAT & ICER)
5. Let’s Stay the Course and Lower Drug Prices
We all want a vaccine to protect us from COVID-19. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that, in the midst of this pandemic, existing drugs will make up our first line of defense against the novel coronavirus. It’s one of numerous reasons we *must* prioritize lowering drug prices. — (Medpage Today)
Slow news week. ?
1. Debunked
A new analysis published in JAMA undercuts one of pharma’s most misleading figures. All told, four studies and a handful of editorials in the influential journal’s special issue show there is plenty of room to reduce prices, maintain R&D, and provide a fair profit for these companies. — (BioPharma Dive)
2. Shareholders before R&D
A ? new analysis from Axios shows Big Pharma used a tax windfall to juice executive and investor payoffs instead of investing in R&D or lowering drug prices. May the data help fuel reforms. — (Axios)
3. We want our money back, Mallinckrodt
The Justice Department is suing Mallinckrodt, accusing it of defrauding Medicaid out of hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates for its blockbuster drug Acthar Gel. The drug has also cost Medicare billions and families in the epilepsy community have dealt with a 97,000 percent price spike since 2001. — (FiercePharma)
4. Guilty!
A Novartis generics unit will pay a $195 million fine — the largest the DOJ has ever levied — in a federal antitrust suit. Oh, and as part of the resolution, the pharmaceutical corporation could share with the feds its dealings with co-conspirators. — (AP)
5. Attorneys take on drug prices
In Texas, the Harris County Attorney filed a lawsuit accusing generic drug manufacturers of price fixing. Meanwhile, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief arguing for state regulation of pharmacy benefit managers. — (Houston Chronicle)
WASHINGTON, DC — A new campaign by Patients For Affordable Drugs Now calls on Senators to support one of President Trump’s top priorities by passing legislation to lower prescription drug prices. The multi-million dollar campaign, launched today, urges Senators to stand with patients and the President in support of the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act (S. 2543) — a bill that would stop drug company price gouging and lower costs for seniors.
“Americans of every political stripe agree that drug prices have got to come down,” said David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “Patients are done with Big Pharma’s lies and outsized influence in Congress, and they’re ready to vote on the issue come November.”
The campaign is launching with two national TV ads featuring patients hurt by rising drug prices. Watch the videos, “Gail,” and “Jackie,” and read the transcripts below.
As part of the campaign set to run until late May, Patients For Affordable Drugs Now will also release radio and digital advertisements nationally and in key states that demonstrate the toll high prescription drug prices are taking on everyday Americans. In addition, the campaign will commission polling, fly patients to Washington, and offer patients a suite of tools to help them contact their elected officials and demand action to lower drug prices.
Starting today, P4ADNow will thank Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the most recent Senator to endorse the Grassley-Wyden bill.
TV AD TRANSCRIPTS
“Jackie”
This is a four week supply of my chemotherapy — It’s 20 pills, and it’s $20,000 every single month. You know it’s hard enough thinking that I’m not going to live that long and to leave my husband alone. But to leave him bankrupt? It’s devastating to me. Millions of people like me are struggling — and drug prices just keep going up and up. But now there are bipartisan proposals in Congress that would actually bring those prices down. Mr. President, Congress, it’s time to make history. The time is now.
“Gail”
My insulin used to cost $26 a vial. Today, drug companies charge up to $350 a vial. This is the same insulin formula I’ve been using for almost 30 years. Regular middle class people like me — we need help. Without Congressional intervention, many of us are struggling. Many are dying. Just because we can’t afford insulin. Mr. President and Congress, we are counting on you.
