Who’s having a busier week? Big Pharma or Maya Rudolph?
1. $2.5 Billion Reasons Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Price Is Too High
Moderna cut a $1.5 billion deal with the U.S. government this week to produce 100 million doses of the corporation’s COVID-19 vaccine. The latest deal brings taxpayer contributions to Moderna to $2.5 billion, for a calculated price of $25 a dose. This follows Moderna’s admissions that its vaccine contender is 100 percent funded by U.S. taxpayers and that the company may be joint owners of the vaccine’s patents with the NIH. Our lawmakers need to step up their game and stop price gouging plans before we have a vaccine. — (Reuters)
2. New Jerseyans Push For Drug Pricing Reforms
New Jerseyans are struggling to afford prescription medications and nearly everyone agrees drug prices need to come down, a new surveyfound. That’s why government leaders and advocates — including Lisa Ann Wetzel-Trainor, a P4ADNow patient advocate — joined forces this week to push for reforms to America’s rigged drug pricing system. — (NJTV)
3. Big Pharma Pandemic Profiteers
Historic windfalls await Big Pharma if we allow the industry to move forward with its plans to rip off America in the COVID-19 era. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Congress must protect the public from pharma’s pandemic profiteering. Weekend reading ➡️ — (Rolling Stone)
4. Connecting with Cash
STAT’s in-depth reporting and data visualizations will let you follow the money to see how pharma showers members of Congress with cash. Drug companies and their trade groups have contributed $11 million to political funds for more than two-thirds of sitting members of Congress ahead of the 2020 election. — (STAT)
5. Pharma Blame Game Debunked
Remember how pharma loves to pretend PBMs are to blame for high drug prices? Axios found that while PBMs and pharma are both bad actors in the drug pricing world, pharma captured the lion’s share of proceeds — $50 billion in 2019 for just 10 blockbuster drugs. — (Axios)
1. Moderna’s Money Grab
In a conference call with investors Wednesday, the Moderna CEO hinted all bets are off on pricing for its 100 percent taxpayer-funded vaccine candidate once the current outbreak subsides. And, bad news, COVID-19 is likely here to stay. *But that’s not all.* Moderna also plans to charge the highest price yet of the vaccine candidates, at $32 to $37 per dose. Business as usual can’t stand in the COVID-19 era. — (NPR)
2. Patents Protecting Profits
Thirty-one state attorneys general pressured the federal government to ensure affordable prices for Gilead’s COVID-19 drug, remdesivir, by invoking a law to break the company’s patent hold on the drug. With a price tag of $3,120, Americans are going to pay 33 percent more than the rest of the world for a drug with only modest benefits for COVID-19 patients, even though U.S. taxpayers have pumped more than $70 millioninto its development. We’re glad to see Gilead’s opportunism being called out, but Americans won’t be protected until lawmakers pass legislation to prevent price gouging. — (USA Today)
3. Once Again, Paying Twice
The U.S. government agreed to pay $1 billion for 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s potential COVID-19 vaccine, on top of its previous commitment of $456 million for research and development. In a public health crisis, Americans are paying twice for essential vaccines and therapeutics. This cannot remain the norm. — (CNBC)
Well, Kodak certainly widened its aperture this week. Welcome to the Week In Review!
1. Pattern of Profiteering
Moderna is reportedly looking to price its potential COVID-19 vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, even after accepting nearly $1 billion in taxpayer support to float R&D. The news came a week after Pfizer announced a price of nearly $20 per dose of its COVID-19 vaccine. The companies have started a dangerous pattern of maximizing profits on the backs of Americans. — (Reuters)
2. Corporate Insiders Cash in on a Crisis
As drug companies’ stock values have skyrocketed thanks to progress on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, pharma executives are making a killing by selling their shares. While Americans are forced to make sacrifices, drug company executives see the pandemic as an opportunity to pocket hundreds of millions of dollars. — (The New York Times)
3. Another Injection of Funding
In the largest Operation Warp Speed contract yet, the U.S. government agreed to provide $2.1 billion for a COVID-19 vaccine candidate jointly developed by pharma giants Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. Over half of the funding is allocated to vaccine development, and the remainder will pay for 100 million doses for the United States. Let’s say it one more time: Taxpayers are underwriting the risk of development. We deserve fair prices when vaccines come to market. — (Bloomberg)
4. Stalled Drug Pricing Discussions
Pharma executives couldn’t be bothered to show up at a White House meeting Tuesday to discuss an executive order that would link drug prices in the U.S. to prices paid in other countries. The Trump administration should immediately advance its plans to lower prescription drug prices. We’ve already waited for too long. — (Politico)
5. We Shouldn’t Have to Worry
A recent Gallup poll found that nearly a third of non-white U.S. adults reported a time when they or a member of their household could not afford their medications in the last year. That’s compared to just one-fifth of white adults who reported the same. That disparity amplifies the importance of addressing drug pricing for all Americans. — (Gallup/West Health)
WASHINGTON, DC — Ben Wakana, the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, issued the following statement after reports that the drug industry has refused an invitation to meet with President Trump. The Tuesday meeting was called to discuss the president’s plan, announced Friday, to align some prescription drug prices in the United States’ Medicare program with lower prices paid in other countries.
“We don’t need Big Pharma’s permission to lower drug prices. The industry has had decades to self-regulate. By canceling tomorrow’s meeting, drug corporations acknowledged they have no intention of lowering drug prices now.
“The Trump administration should move forward immediately with its plan to tie U.S. drug prices to the lower prices paid in other wealthy nations.
“We hope the president will throw the full weight of his office, including upcoming executive orders, behind policies that lower the list prices of drugs for all Americans. Patients are suffering. We don’t have time to wait.”
The president announced executive orders late Friday – like an international pricing index and Canadian drug importation – claiming that the moves would lower drug prices. The ultimate fate of the orders remains to be seen as the president plans to meet with pharmaceutical executives on Tuesday and implementation details remain in flux. — (Axios)
2. “That would be devastating for me”
In a new video, patients from across the country make their voices heard: The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t made the issue of high drug prices go away, it has made it worse. And they deliver a message of hope and support as they call for drug pricing reform. — (P4AD)
3. It’s Apparent Now
Pfizer signed a $1.95 billion contract with the U.S. government to produce 100 million doses of the company’s potential COVID-19 vaccine — about $20 a dose. That price is more than six times what AstraZeneca plans to charge for its vaccine. What Americans have suspected for months is now out in the open: Pfizer plans to profiteer off a pandemic. — (CNN)
4. The Pledges are PR Stunts
At a Congressional hearing Tuesday, executives from giant drug corporations developing COVID-19 vaccines refused to promise to not profit over their coronavirus vaccines. If ever there were a time for Big Pharma to find its conscience, it would be now. Congress must take action to ensure pharmaceutical manufacturers don’t profiteer on the backs of patients in a pandemic. — (The New York Times)
5. States March Onward
State legislatures continue to work on drug pricing bills, focusing on areas like transparency and the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers. We’re glad to see that states are setting up guardrails to defend patients from high drug prices, and we stand ready to assist in any way we can. — (FiercePharma)
WASHINGTON, DC — Ben Wakana, the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, issued the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s four drug pricing executive orders. The organization previously ran a nearly $1 million campaign in support of one of those orders, HHS’s proposed International Pricing Index.
“The administration’s decision to bring drug prices in Medicare Part B more in line with what other wealthy nations pay would be a positive step if implemented. Abandoning the rule at this stage would be a capitulation to drug corporations.
“Big Pharma has had decades to self-regulate and lower list prices. Not only has it failed to do so, drug corporations continue to raise drug prices –– even in the middle of a pandemic.
“While the Trump administration’s original plan to use international reference pricing was limited — as it would only impact Medicare beneficiaries in half the country, who take certain medications, for a limited amount of time — it would help alleviate the pain of skyrocketing drug prices, and we strongly encourage the rule to be finalized.
“The goal of ridding our system of secret deals between drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers is laudable. We look forward to seeing more details of how this plan will work. In addition, we support the administration’s plans to allow importation from Canada and lower the cost of insulin and EpiPens for patients who rely on Federally Qualified Health Centers.
“We are hopeful the administration moves ahead with these executive orders and look forward to additional details.”
BACKGROUND
Americans pay the highest drug prices in the world.
The New York Times: “A government study that said Medicare was paying 80 percent more than other advanced industrial countries for some of the most costly physician-administered medicines.”
Ways & Means Committee Analysis: “Americans pay on average nearly four times more for drugs than other countries – in some cases, 67 times more for the same drug.”
Axios: Americans will be forced to pay 80 percent more for Humira than patients in Europe through 2023.
Drug prices keep rising.
CNN: “Drug makers hiked prices on hundreds of medications for 2020.”
Axios: “It may be a new year, but the same drugs are once again subject to the same industry practices.”
GoodRx on January price hikes: “So far in 2020: 639 drugs have increased by an average of 6 percent.”
Americans support an International Pricing Index
By a 71-point margin, voters supported the Department of Health and Human Services’ ANPRM to lower drug prices in Medicare Part B by implementing an International Pricing Index (80 percent support vs. 9 percent oppose), according to GS Strategies.
“Nearly one-third of U.S. adults (30 percent) consider a candidate’s position on lowering drug costs to be ‘the single most important issue’ or ‘among the most important issues’ in influencing their vote in the 2020 election,” according to Gallup.
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We cut into pharma. It is cake. Welcome to the Week In Review.
1. Empty Promises
Some drug makers in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine have pledged to forgo a profit, without offering any details as to what that means. We’ve been doing this long enough to know we can’t trust pharma to make good on their promises. Lawmakers must pass legislation to guarantee fair prices and protect Americans from being price gouged for vaccines we’re paying to create. — (Politico)
2. We Demand a Say
Moderna could make a profit of $5 billion if its COVID-19 vaccine candidate costs $50 per dose, with the potential to rake in more than $20 billion if priced higher, Wall Street analysts predict. Meanwhile, U.S. taxpayers have funded the potential vaccine every step of the way, from government scientists who helped develop the technology to ongoing clinical trials. As Wall Street and pharma work together to push up prices, it’s clearer than ever that we can’t allow them to hold all the cards. — (FiercePharma)
3. Highway Robbery in Ohio
Ohio is suing pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts for overcharging taxpayers by millions. Alleged tactics include mislabeling generics as brand-name drugs and failing to deliver on promised discounts. Lawsuits like Ohio’s illuminate the myriad of ways drug manufacturers and PBMs work together to increase their own profit margins at the expense of the rest of us. — (Ohio Capital Journal)
4. Monopoly Money
Big Pharma poster child AbbVie has secured dozens of patents on the cancer drug Imbruvica, extending its monopoly and staving off lower-priced competitors for nine years beyond its government-granted period of exclusivity, according to a new report from patent abuse watchdog I-MAK. The estimated cost of Imbruvica to taxpayers and patients over those nine years? $41 billion. Pharma is holding us all hostage. — (I-MAK)
5. New Hampshire Stands Strong
States continue to take the lead on drug pricing reform. New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu included a comprehensive bill that would address high drug prices for the state’s patients. It’s long past time for the federal government to advance proposals to lower drug prices for ALL Americans. — (The Conway Daily Sun)
My name is Sneha Dave. I am 22 years old, a lover of the outdoors, and an ulcerative colitis patient. I now live with a J-pouch, which is when the small intestine is built into the shape of a J. I live with chronic pouchitis, which is inflammation of the J-pouch, and a respiratory issue that can be attributed to the drug I take to control my ulcerative colitis, Entyvio. The problem is that Entyvio has a list price of nearly $7,000 per month. But due to lingering inflammation, I’m hoping to find a different treatment option soon –– most likely Stelara, which now has an average list price of over $11,000 per month. Unfortunately, high-priced drugs like this are the best option for a lot of patients with ulcerative colitis.
