President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to advance a yet unseen most-favored nation executive order passed midnight Tuesday, with lots of talk, no real news. Pharma, meanwhile, reportedly floated a flimsy counteroffer, which the president must reject. Trump should advance the most-favored nation proposal to help stop Americans from paying the highest drug prices in the world. While this approach is short of a solution to the drug pricing crisis writ large — most Americans won’t experience savings if it’s implemented — it’s a step in the right direction. — (KHN)
2. There has been no “dramatic action” on drug pricing
No, drug prices are not falling. No, dramatic action has not been taken. Drug prices are rising during a global pandemic. — (NBC)
3. Profiteering on a Pandemic
Oxford University once pledged to donate the rights to its promising COVID-19 vaccine contender. Instead, the university signed an exclusive deal granting AstraZeneca sole rights to sell the vaccine, in a contract that would also allow the university to receive millions in royalties. In the midst of an unprecedented health crisis, we all remain at the mercy of drug corporations’ unfettered pricing power. — (KHN)
4. Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
Pharma wants the COVID-19 pandemic to revive its bottomed-out image, but companies like Pfizer are already signaling to investors that prices will rise in the likely scenario that COVID-19 vaccinations become a seasonal event. It’s business as usual for Big Pharma. — (Bloomberg)
5. Crackdown Continues
The U.S. Justice Department dropped conspiracy charges on Teva Pharmaceuticals following an investigation into price fixing for drugs to treat conditions like heart disease. It’s the seventh drug maker charged in the department’s ongoing criminal antitrust probe. — (Reuters)
WASHINGTON, DC – The drug lobby knows no shame. In the past 72 hours, drug corporations offered a flimsy plan. It’s not designed to lower drug prices for all Americans, but to stop the Trump administration from implementing its most-favored nation proposal. In response, Ben Wakana, the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, issued the following statement:
“Big Pharma’s political stunt is exactly the kind of sorry excuse for a solution you would expect from drug corporations. It’s a PR move designed to block a better plan that would meaningfully lower drug prices. Patients have been promised real reforms to get Americans the best deal of any nation in the world and to lower drug prices by 50 percent. Instead, the drug lobby presented a plan that is voluntary, severely limited in scope, and impermanent.
“Patients resoundingly reject Big Pharma’s offer as an alternative to the most-favored nation plan. It’s too little, too late.”
BACKGROUND
According to press reports, drug corporations would not be required to participate in the “two voluntary demonstration programs within Medicare.”
The voluntary project would have two components for manufacturers that choose to participate:
Drug companies would provide the government with “market-based” discounts for drugs in Medicare Part B.
Drug companies would cap what patients would pay at 5 percent in the catastrophic phase of Medicare Part D.
The public does not trust drug corporations to price their products fairly, and nearly 1 in 3 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed because of the cost.
“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.
###
WASHINGTON, DC – Today marks President Trump’s self-imposed deadline to advance an executive order for a most-favored nation approach to lower prescription drug prices. The president gave the pharmaceutical industry one month to propose a solution to meaningfully lower the list prices of drugs. Instead, drug corporations continued to raise prices and patients continued to struggle. It’s time for change.
“Abandoning the most-favored nation proposal at the 11th hour would be a capitulation to drug corporations,” said Ben Wakana, the executive director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now. “If President Trump does not implement a proposal to lower the list prices of prescription drugs, he will leave Americans continuing to pay the highest prices in the world.”
Drug prices are not going down by “50%, 60%, maybe 70%” as the president has claimed. Instead, prescription drug prices continue to go up, even during a global pandemic. Pharma has had decades to propose its own solutions to lower drug prices, but with continued price hikes, the drug industry has proven it is unwilling to do so.
Americans overwhelmingly support proposals to lower drug prices by tying them to prices paid in other countries. 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. The most-favored nation approach is considered an outgrowth of that idea.
Comprehensive reform to lower the list price of prescription drugs for all Americans requires Congress and the president to come together to enact meaningful and sustainable policy change.
Nearly nine in 10 voters believe it is very important for Congress to lower drug prices, and almost one-third of U.S. adults consider a candidate’s position on lowering drug prices to be “the single most important issue” or “among the most important issues” that will influence their vote in 2020.
###
1. Moderna Sees Potential for Jackpot
Moderna revealed it could pocket up to $8.125 billion from the U.S. government for 500 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine. The set-up is clear: Taxpayers are on the hook for exorbitant amounts of money for a vaccine we’ve already 100 percent funded. — (FiercePharma)
2. Business as Usual
A new report from AnalySource shows it is business as usual for Big Pharma in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drug manufacturers in July raised prices for 65 brand-name drugs by 3.62 percent, matching almost exactly Big Pharma’s July 2019 price hikes. — (AnalySource)
3. Acts of Desperation
Insulin prices continue to skyrocket, and with it, some patients are forced to purchase their black-market insulin on sites like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. The three insulin manufacturers are holding patients hostage, and Americans are desperate for relief. — (Sinclair Broadcast Group)
4. Pervasive Profiteering
The federal government sued pharma giant Teva, accusing the corporation of violating Medicare anti-kickback laws by funneling money to two “independent” patient assistance programs for the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. In the alleged scheme, Teva quadrupled the price of the drug to $73,326 a year between 2006 and 2015 and charged taxpayers via Medicare. We can’t say we’re surprised — this lawsuit is just the latest in a litany of bad behavior from Big Pharma. — (Reuters)
5. Pharma’s Statehouse Stampede
State lawmakers across the country are moving to cap out-of-pocket insulin prices, but drug company lobbyists are working overtime to water down the bills and protect pharma’s bottom line. The hundreds of thousands of dollars spent lobbying legislators underscore the lengths pharma will go to continue charging the highest possible prices for life-saving medications. — (Fair Warning, NBC News)
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.”
