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)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The following statement was issued by David Mitchell, a cancer patient and the founder of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now:
“The swearing in of the two Georgia Democratic senators creates the best political environment in years for serious reforms to address high drug prices in America. Democrats and Republicans across the country campaigned on promises to bring relief to the American people; Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will provide the margin to deliver on those promises. Under Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senate has the opportunity to advance bipartisan, comprehensive drug pricing legislation, such as that passed by the House in the 116th Congress and likely to be passed by the House early in this session. President Biden has stated clearly his strong support for reforms to lower drug prices, including direct Medicare price negotiations with the drug corporations.
“Americans are suffering as we pay almost four times what other wealthy nations pay for prescription drugs. That must end. Patients For Affordable Drugs Now looks forward to working with the administration and members of Congress from both parties who are ready to lift the burden of high drug prices from the backs of the American people in the months ahead.”
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Welcome to the Week in Review.
Price Hikes Price Out Patients
A new Patients For Affordable Drugs analysis found that pharma hiked the prices of more than 600 drugs in the first week of January, with a median price hike of 4.99 percent — that’s over four times the rate of inflation. It’s no wonder Americans, overwhelmed by high prices, are unified in calling on lawmakers to take action and lower drug prices. — (Axios)
2.Let. Medicare. Negotiate. Now.
According to a government study, the Department of Veterans Affairs paid, on average, less than half as much as Medicare Part D for the same drugs in 2017. The difference is attributed in part to the VA’s ability to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices. It’s why Big Pharma so fiercely opposes Medicare negotiation — and why it’s time for Congress to get it done. — (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
3.“Anything But a Free Market”
A new bipartisan report from the Senate Finance Committee reveals that insulin prices have skyrocketed over the past decade due to abusive practices throughout the prescription drug pipeline. The massive price increases have led to huge benefits for drug makers and pharmacy benefit managers alike, while patients suffer. In Senator Chuck Grassley’s words, “there is clearly something broken” about the system. — (The Hill)
4.You’re Welcome, Pharma
In the sixth installment in P4AD’s series on taxpayer investment into COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, founder David Mitchell says pharma should be thanking U.S. taxpayers for funding and de-risking the early research that led to the successful vaccines. Now that pharma’s stock value is soaring, executives are cashing out, and companies stand to reap billions in sales, there’s only one thing left to say: “You’re welcome.” — (P4AD)
5.We’re Powered By Patients
In the newest episode of the Uninvisible Pod, P4AD Digital Director Samantha Reid shares how her Crohn’s disease diagnosis gives her an intensely personal reason to advocate for lower drug prices. Samantha has also testified in front of Congress on the need to rein in pharmaceutical price gouging and writes a blog about living with chronic illness. We are so grateful for her work every day! — (Uninvisible Pod)
