Latest News | Oct 25, 2023

The Week in Review in Prescription Drug Pricing

Quick note to readers: This was Audrey’s last week (in review) at P4AD! She’s been honored to be in your inbox for the last couple years. We’ll be excited to announce P4AD’s incoming communications and media director very soon and we’ll see you here next week as usual. 

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1. Enrolling In Medicare? The Inflation Reduction Act Will Bring Savings

 2.  Patients Depend On Patent & Regulatory Reforms

3. Addressing Launch Prices Of Gene Therapies

PRICE GOUGING ALERT: This week we learned Pfizer plans to set the U.S. price for its COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid at nearly $1,400. That’s more than double what the government currently pays and far more than what it costs to make. Outrageous. 

Have a great weekend! 

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  Senators Celebrate Drug Price Reforms With Patients 

 2.  Medicare Negotiation: A Monumental Step For Patients

3. Momentum For Reforming Our Patent And Regulatory Systems

Have a great weekend! 

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Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  A Big Win For Medicare Negotiation 

 2.  Push For Competition To Lower Drug Prices

3. Patients Need Affordable Vaccines

Have a great weekend! 

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Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  A Big Win For Medicare Negotiation 

 2.  Time To Stop Big Pharma Patent Abuses

3. Sickle Cell Awareness & The Looming Question Of High Launch Prices 

BONUS WATCH: Check out P4AD’s Bilingual Organizer & Program Assistant Jesse Aguirre celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month in this new video! Worth a watch.

Have a great weekend! 

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Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  New Poll: Americans Oppose Big Pharma’s Assault On Medicare Negotiation 

 2.  Medicare Negotiation Restores Fairness

3. The Inflation Reduction Act: A Clear Win For Patients 

Have a great weekend! 

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  Patients Urge Senators To Curb Patent Abuses📝

 2.  Defending Medicare Negotiation 

3. The Inflation Reduction Act: A Clear Win For Patients 

One more thing: A new contract between drug company Regeneron and HHS marks “the first time the Biden administration has directly used its leverage to challenge drugmakers’ list prices.” Rachel Cohrs at STAT has the breakdown.

Have a great weekend! 

The Senate is back in D.C. and patients are bringing the heat to pass reforms! Here’s to lower temperatures and lower drug prices.

Welcome to the Week in Review.

1.  P4ADNow Launches New Ads To Push For Competition First 10 Drugs Eligible For Negotiation Announced

 2.  Overwhelming Support For The Inflation Reduction Act

3. Financial Burden Of High Drug Prices

Have a great weekend! 

Digital Ads And Iowans Call On Senators Ernst And Grassley To Pass Bipartisan Legislation To Curb Big Pharma Abusive Monopolies And Boost Lower Cost Generic Competition

IOWA — Patients For Affordable Drugs Now (P4ADNow) launched new ads in Iowa today as part of its “Push For Competition To Lower Drug Prices.” The campaign includes digital ads and grassroots advocacy, through which Iowans thank Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley for fighting to lower drug prices by ensuring the passage of a package of bipartisan bills that crack down on the drug industry’s anti-competitive practices and promote generic and biosimilar competition.

“Now that the Senate is back from recess, Senators Ernst and Grassley have a real opportunity to advance common sense solutions that will deliver relief to Iowan patients through lower drug prices,” said David Mitchell, a patient with incurable blood cancer whose drugs carry a list price of more than $900,000 per year and founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “It’s time to curb drug companies’ abuse – through anti-competitive practices that extend monopolies beyond the time intended under law – and allow our system to work, with timely generic and biosimilar competition in the marketplace to lower prices. We urge Senators Ernst and Grassley to act now.”

Below are examples of digital ads running in Iowa:

The campaign also includes TV video ads running in Washington, D.C. that feature two patients who are forced to struggle with the high prices of their prescription drugs and urgently call on the Senate to pass the bipartisan competition bill package.

In addition to Iowa, P4ADNow’s campaign includes digital ads and grassroots advocacy in nine additional states, thanking the following senators for fighting to lower drug prices by ensuring competition: Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rick Scott (FL), Mike Braun (IN), Bill Cassidy (LA), Susan Collins (ME), Josh Hawley (MO), Kevin Cramer (ND), John Cornyn (TX), Ted Cruz (TX), and Mike Lee (UT).

Over the summer, 35 organizations representing patients, consumers, seniors, churches, students, unions and disease advocacy groups sent a letter to the Senate to pass bipartisan patent and regulatory reforms that curb abuses and allow greater competition to lower drug prices. This campaign builds on this momentum by urging Senators Ernst and Grassley to pass legislation to lower drug prices for patients.

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Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is the only national patient advocacy organization that focuses exclusively on system-changing policies to lower drug prices. P4ADNow is independent, bipartisan and does not accept funding from any organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs.