Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and their executives stand to gain huge fortunes from the pandemic. It’s estimated that each drug corporation will make at least $10 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales after the federal government invested hundreds of millions of dollars in these vaccines. Company executives are already cashing in, as the CEOs of Pfizer and J&J took home compensation packages of $21 million and $29 million, respectively, while Moderna’s CEO sold nearly $40 million worth of stock. It’s the definition of pandemic profiteering. — (The Guardian)
2.Double Talk
During an Axios interview, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said, “It will be terrible for society if price becomes an obstacle” to getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet, Pfizer’s chief financial officer admitted in February that the company is looking at increasing vaccine prices, from $19.50 to as much as $175 per dose after the pandemic period. To Mr. Bourla: Which is it? The decision, and the lives of millions, are in your hands. — (Axios)
3. Colorado Clamps Down
On Monday, Colorado patient advocate Kris Garcia shared his story in support of establishing a state prescription drug affordability board, which would have the power to evaluate and set upper payment limits on high-priced drugs. Kris relies on a medication that costs $10,000 per vial to manage several bleeding disorders. “I require four vials of this drug every time I get an infusion,” he said. “These shocking costs are [for] just one of the many drugs I need.” — (FOX 31)
4. Greed, Not Need
Pharma’s argument that high prices are necessary to fuel innovation just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. Analyses show that the government contributed to the research and development of every new drug approved in the last decade, and that drug prices are far higher than what is needed to recoup R&D costs. Pharma can bring prices down; they just don’t want to. — (National Academy for State Health Policy)
5. Small Businesses Call For Lower Drug Prices
A new survey revealed 93 percent of small business owners hold the pharmaceutical industry responsible for high drug prices and expensive insurance, and over 80 percent believe the federal government should negotiate with drug companies. Patients and small businesses agree — Congress must address high drug prices now. — (Small Business for America’s Future)
The Senate Finance Committee’s tie vote sent Xavier Becerra’s nomination for secretary of HHS to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer this week. Becerra clearly demonstrated his commitment to reforming the broken drug pricing system during his confirmation hearings. Patients need the majority leader to move quickly to bring the confirmation to a full Senate vote. — (The Hill)
2.Fight For Us
On Wednesday, Oregon patient advocate Michael Nielsen delivered testimony in support of a state bill that would ban collusive “pay-for-delay” deals between brand-name drug companies and generic manufacturers. Michael, a disabled combat veteran, described how he and his wife, Jacki, were unable to afford her hepatitis C medication when it came with a price of $13,000 every 90 days. “I am asking our legislators to fight for patients like us.” — (The Lund Report)
3. Pattern Of Profit
Pharma giant AstraZeneca sold its entire stake in COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna for about $1 billion last year. In 2020, Moderna’s stock price soared thanks to billions of dollars in investment from the federal government. It’s the latest in a pattern of drug corporations and their executives reaping huge profits from stock sales during the pandemic, thanks to taxpayers. — (FiercePharma)
4. Pharma Sees Permission To Price Gouge
A new study found that treatment of rare diseases comprised only 21 percent of spending on 15 top-selling partial orphan drugs, which can be used to treat both rare and common diseases. Researchers are concerned that the orphan drug designation, intended to incentivize the development of drugs for rare diseases, is being abused by pharma companies hoping to extend their monopolies on blockbuster drugs. Once again, pharma takes advantage of a system meant to benefit patients — and instead uses it to fill its coffers. — (University of Michigan)
5. Holding Patients Hostage
Drug companies’ January price hikes on hundreds of drugs are more than just another data point. For millions of patients, they represent an ever-increasing price tag on their lives. When Maria Miller learned that the price of her son’s drug for epileptic seizures had increased by another 4.7 percent, she broke down sobbing. “We are literally held hostage, and they’re using my son’s health to hold us hostage,” Miller said. “I don’t understand how this could become okay.” — (WTHR)
Patients For Affordable Drugs turned 4 years old this week! Thank you to everyone who has been in this fight with us.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Confirm Becerra Now
HHS Secretary-designate Xavier Becerra asserted his commitment to lower drug prices in confirmation hearings before the Senate HELP and Finance Committees this week. At the hearings, senators on both sides of the aisle made clear that drug pricing is a priority for Congress this year, and Becerra comes with a strong record of defending patients from pharma’s abusive pricing tactics. We urge the Senate to confirm Becerra quickly so that he and Congress can get to work fighting for patients. — (AP)
2. Seize The Moment
With Democrats in control of Congress and the White House, it’s the best political environment in years for comprehensive drug pricing reform. There is bipartisan support to pass a bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. Congress must take advantage of the moment and rein in high drug prices for millions of patients across the country. — (The Hill)
3. Post-Pandemic Profiteering Plans
Pfizer admitted that it intends to hike the price of its COVID-19 vaccine. The company already expects to make $15 billion this year alone thanks to its vaccine developed from taxpayer-funded research, but the company’s CFO suggested that future prices may jump from $19.50 to $175 per dose. It’s a perfect illustration of where pharma’s priorities lie: Even as Americans are still in the midst of a public health crisis, drug corporations are looking for ways to increase their already high profit margins. — (FiercePharma)
4. An Incentive To Price Gouge
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks’ compensation package grew to $23.7 million in 2020 — an increase of 11 percent from 2019 — as the company exceeded its revenue target for the year. Meanwhile, the company continues to hike drug prices, including on its best-selling product Trulicity. When earnings and revenue targets are linked to executive bonuses, is it any surprise that brand-name drugs in the United States are 3.5 times the prices in other countries? — (FiercePharma)
5. Our Work, Their Reward
Moderna is projecting $18 billion in sales this year from its COVID-19 vaccine, which is based on government-funded research and was 100 percent funded by taxpayers. It’s the first year that the company is expected to make a profit. Taxpayers have de-risked the development of vaccines, and now drug companies are watching the cash roll in. — (Reuters)
Who would’ve thought we’d land on Mars EIGHT TIMES before we landed lower drug prices?
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Minnesota Makes A Move
This week, Minnesota lawmakers introduced a bill that would create a state prescription drug affordability board and advisory council with the power to set upper payment limits on unaffordable drugs. Patients like Travis Paulson, who lives with type 1 diabetes, and Ramae Hamrin, who lives with multiple myeloma, shared their stories in support of the board. “When (my life savings) run out, I’m not sure what I will do,” Ramae testified. “Usually, I am a planner — but I cannot plan for this.” — (AP)
2.A Unifying Cause
The fight to lower drug prices continues to be a bipartisan effort. Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of a Senate HELP subcommittee, and Senator Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are publishing reports, putting drug pricing hearings on the agenda, and sponsoring legislation on drug prices this year. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle agree that out-of-control drug prices harm patients. Let’s make 2021 the year we pass reforms to fix that. — (Sen. Bernie Sanders, The Iowa Standard)
3. Magnifying The Price Hikes
Over the past month, Patients For Affordable Drugs has released a series of graphics taking a closer look at some of the most impactful January 2021 price hikes. These include drugs like the cancer treatment Revlimid, which saw its 24th price hike since 2006, and the best-selling medication Humira, which now costs $5,968 for a month’s supply following a 7.4 percent price hike. In the midst of a pandemic, Big Pharma continues to raise prices, taking advantage of patients who already have the most to lose. — (P4AD)
Roses are red, Violets are blue, We want lower drug prices And know you do, too.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
A Win For Maryland!
On Thursday, the Maryland House of Delegates joined the State Senate in establishing permanent funding for the first-in-the-nation prescription drug affordability board. Gov. Hogan blocked the funding in 2020, and both chambers of the state legislature overrode his veto to allow the board to move forward. We are grateful to the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative for its work to push for full empowerment of the board that will help make drugs more affordable for Marylanders. — (Politico)
2.Racial Justice’s Patent Problem
The next director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a unique opportunity to reform the patent system and rein in high prescription drug prices, a problem that disproportionately harms communities of color, writes I-MAK co-founder Priti Krishtel in a new op-ed. Drug makers weaponize patent thickets to allow for continual price hikes. If the administration is serious about achieving health equity, addressing pharma’s patent abuses must be part of the conversation. — (The New York Times)
3. Patients Can’t Wait
State legislatures are continuing to take the lead to lower drug prices and hold pharma accountable. Their work is critical for patients like Katherine Pepper, who depends on the pricey drug Humira and often eats just one meal a day to afford her medication. “I’m now in a situation where I have to do Russian roulette, spin the wheel, and figure out what I can do without this month.” — (Kaiser Health News)
4. The State of Affairs
As Americans enter a second year of dealing with the devastating impact of COVID-19, drug companies continue to raise prices on necessary medications and receive billions from governments for taxpayer-funded COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Patients need Congress and the Biden administration to act now to drive down drug prices through Medicare negotiation. — (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
5. Pharma Spends Big On Ads
Top drug makers spent $216 million on TV ads last month, with AbbVie’s best-selling drug Humira and Novo Nordisk’s diabetes medication Rybelsus leading the pack. January’s ad blitz extends a period of high pharma TV spending over the past few months. And yet, drug companies want us to believe that there’s no room to reduce profits without impacting the development of innovative new medicines. It just doesn’t add up. — (FiercePharma)
Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, here’s a reminder that Humira generates more in revenue than these two teams AND ALL THE OTHERS COMBINED.
Welcome to the Week in Review.
Big Pharma’s Big Lie
A new report from P4AD debunks one of pharma’s most commonly cited claims that lowering drug prices will destroy its ability to develop innovative new medications for patients. Fact: Reducing pharmaceutical profits within reasonable levels would not harm innovation, and the most innovative new drugs — those that represent clinical advances — are often funded in part by taxpayers. Patients care about innovation more than anyone else, and we won’t let drug corporations hold us hostage with another one of their lies. — (P4AD)
2.Open Your Books
Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, both companies with a COVID-19 vaccine, are fighting to block shareholder resolutions seeking transparency into pharma’s pricing practices. Despite the fact that public money helped finance COVID-19 vaccines, when it comes to price, pharma wants to keep hiding in the shadows. — (Newsweek)
3.States Get The Ball Rolling
There is growing evidence that in the absence of federal action, states will act. This week, state legislatures and governors around the country jump-started efforts to lower drug prices. A Montana Senate committee heard testimony for a bill that would increase transparency into drug prices, while lawmakers in New Jersey and New York are aiming to pass legislation to establish or strengthen insulin copay caps.Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker proposed penalizing drug makers for price gouging, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers revealed a slate of drug pricing proposals, including the establishment of a prescription pricing review board. We stand ready to support these efforts! — (Montana Free Press, WNYC, CommonWealth Magazine, AP)
This isn’t a GAME. STOP gouging prescription drug prices, pharma. Welcome to the Week in Review.
Americans Pay More
A new report from the RAND Corporation found that prescription drug prices in the United States are 256 percent of the prices in other wealthy nations. That number jumps to nearly 350 percent for brand-name drugs. And prices show no sign of dropping anytime soon: Drug companies have hiked prices on at least 783 drugs in the first month of 2021 alone. — (Axios)
2.Welcome to the Team!
This week, P4AD and P4ADNow welcomed Sheila McLean as our new executive director. Sheila comes to us with decades of experience in advocacy and public health work, as well as her own patient experience with high-priced prescription drugs. We are thrilled to have her leadership! — (P4AD)
3.A Mandate for Congress
Eighty-seven percent of voters say that they want lawmakers to keep their promises “to lower prescription drug prices and hold Big Pharma accountable,” according to a new poll from Morning Consult. An overwhelming majority of voters also believe that lawmakers must prevent drug companies from pandemic price gouging. Voters are sending a clear message — the time for action is now. — (Morning Consult)
4. Say No to Pandemic Price Gouging
The U.S. government has pumped over $18 billion into the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, and now it must ensure that the vaccines are affordable for all Americans, writes Aaron Kesselheim, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Drug companies should be allowed to make a reasonable profit for their work, but price gouging on taxpayer-funded vaccines is not how we will keep the virus at bay long-term. — (Bloomberg)
5. “A Vicious Cycle”
High prescription drug prices disproportionately impact communities of color. According to a new report, Latinos are more likely to live with chronic health conditions and depend on prescription drugs to manage their health. Sixty percent of Latinos report having delayed seeking medical care or filling prescriptions due to high prices. We must fix this broken drug pricing system that contributes to a cycle of health and economic inequality. — (UnidosUS Action Fund)
Here’s to a historic week. Welcome to the Week in Review.
The Time is Now
Candidates who campaigned on promises to lower prescription drug prices have taken their seats as members of the 117th Congress, creating the best environment in years for serious drug pricing reform. Patients are ready to work with Congress and President Biden to get it done. — (FiercePharma)
2.One Step Closer
Last Friday, the Maryland Senate voted to override the governor’s veto of a bill that would provide permanent funding for the state’s prescription drug affordability board. Now, the House of Delegates must follow the Senate’s lead and allow the first-in-the-nation board to continue its important work of lowering the costs of prescription drugs for Marylanders. — (The Washington Post)
3.These Are Our Stories
This month, patient advocates living with conditions like cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes, and psoriatic arthritis spoke out about the high prices of their prescription drugs and their worries about what the future holds. “In order to avoid these interruptions in my dosing, I’ve been forced to dip into my savings and jeopardize my financial health to preserve my physical health. I felt that I had no choice. And I consider myself one of the lucky ones,” writes Kip Burgess, who lives with psoriatic arthritis. Jay Gironimi, who lives with cystic fibrosis, adds, “We shouldn’t be forced to decide between financial ruin and detrimental health outcomes.” — (P4AD)
