Just like Angela Bassett, the Senate Judiciary Committee did the thing, and passed five bipartisan bills to help fix key elements of our rigged drug price system.
Welcome To The Week In Review.
The Inflation Reduction Act Keeps Bringing Relief
Patients across the country are speaking out about the ways the new drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act are improving their lives. Patricia in Virginia was able to get a free shingles vaccine; Julia in Kansas will save thousands of dollars a year now that her insulin copays are capped at $35 a month; Judy in Arizona is “already seeing savings on prescription drugs;” and in 2025, thousands of Montanans on Medicare Part D “will have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their pharmacy costs are capped.” Members of the Biden administration and partners are working to spread the word to make sure more people on Medicare know how the law is lowering drug costs. Director of Center for Medicare Meena Seshamani joined an AARP hosted tele-town hall to walk through the new reforms: “It was really important to deliver [cost savings] right away because we know how much not only people with Medicare, but their families, [and] their communities who support them, have been struggling with these high costs.” Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra joined a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit and new U.S. House Representative Summer Lee to make sure people on Medicare “know what their rights are” when it comes to the new drug price reforms. For Julia, the Inflation Reduction Act means a lot: “I really cried the day that I saw that this had been passed, because it is such a huge thing.” — (The Free Lance-Star, Shawnee Mission Post, AARP, Arizona Daily Star, Independent Record, AARP, WESA)
2. Senators Are Serious About PBM Reform
Last week, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a hearing calling for transparency into and accountability from pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Members of the committee discussed the Pharmacy Benefit Manager Transparency Act of 2023 (S. 127), a bill that has potential to shine a light on the secret practices of PBMs. “There is no transparency in PBMs. When you combine that with anti-competitive tactics, this is a recipe where the only people who win in healthcare costs are PBMs,” Senator Jon Tester said at the hearing. We agree, and are glad to see the committee, and Congress at large, is building momentum to address this part of our drug price system. “One of the reasons we must have transparency and take these steps towards reform is because there’s too much integration here,” P4AD’s David Mitchell remarked in an interview this week. “It used to be that PBMs were separate from insurers and now they are one in the same. We need to see how those mergers are affecting the way the PBMs do business.” This hearing builds on efforts by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed a bipartisan package of five bills earlier this month, including one bill (S. 113) that would launch an investigation into the role of PBMs within the pharmaceutical supply chain. Politico’s Megan R. Wilson spoke optimistically about the PBM reforms in this Congress, saying, “I just think there’s more momentum…than there’s been in a while.” Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle recognize the importance of taking on PBMs – we look forward to working further with Congress to ensure PBMs work for patients, not corporate bottom lines. — (Fierce Healthcare, Health Payer Specialist, Politico)
3. It’s TIME To “Return The Patent System To Its Original Intent”
This week, leaders in the drug pricing space and members of Congress are talking about how Big Pharma’s abuse of the U.S. drug patent system continues to force patients to pay high drug prices. “At the root of our nation’s drug pricing crisis is the industry’s egregious abuse of a broken drug patent system,” the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK)’s Tahir Amin and P4AD’s David Mitchell summarized in a new op-ed in TIME. The authors call on Congress to “stand up to drugmakers’ deceptive, anti-competitive tactics and return the patent system to its original intent.” Members of Congress are taking note of Big Pharma’s patent abuses, too. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and Reps. Katie Porter and Pramila Jayapal wrote a letter on Wednesday to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) asking the agency to closely review additional patent requests on Merck’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda. Merck is attempting to “[extend] its monopoly power over the drug” with additional patents that would delay competing drugs from coming to market, keep prices high, and limit access for patients. This inquiry follows the Senate Judiciary Committee’s recent passage of five bipartisan bills that include legislation to address patent abuse and increase coordination between the USPTO and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that patents are not unfairly blocking competition. We are grateful to see momentum and bipartisan support for patent reform from members of Congress – and we will keep fighting until the rigged patent system is fixed and patients can afford their medications. — (TIME, Endpoints)
Bonus: ICYMI, check out last week’s media roundup of P4AD leaders and patient advocates debunking Big Pharma, fighting for future reforms, and celebrating recent wins.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Happy Friday! Here’s a quick media roundup featuring P4ADNow leaders and patient advocates in the news this week fighting for lower drug prices
1. In a new STAT op-ed, P4ADNow’s David Mitchell debunked one of Big Pharma’s newest lies: that the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act economically disadvantage small molecule drugs compared to biologics, which will hurt innovation, increase prices, and harm patients. “The Inflation Reduction Act actually narrowsthe advantage for biologics over small molecules,” David explained. “It’s time for the pharmaceutical industry to choose: Do biologics need more market incentives than small molecules, or not? If pharma wants equal incentives for all drugs, Congress should bring biologics in line with small molecules and equalize them both at no more than nine years of exemption from negotiation.”
2. Merith Basey, P4ADNow’s executive director, sat down with health and policy expert RJ Eskow on The Zero Hour and discussed the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act, the fight to push back on Big Pharma power, and the work to be done to increase competition, transparency, and equity in the drug price system. “Headlines in the summer… said ‘maybe for the first time pharma is losing its power in Washington’ – that is music to my ears!” Merith shared about the passing of the historic Inflation Reduction Act. “People are excited about these reforms. Do they go far enough? No… We will continue pushing for patients.”
3. North Carolina advocate Steven Hadfield shared his perspective with Cardinal&Pine about how the $35 monthly insulin copay cap for people on Medicare passed in the Inflation Reduction Act will benefit him this year. “I think that’s gonna be real good,” Steven said of the new insulin copays that went into place last month. “I live on budgets. I mean, I’m not making the money I used to make… [this] stuff should not be so expensive.”
Have a great weekend!
For the price of a month’s supply of blood cancer drug Revlimid, you could buy two tickets to the Super Bowl AND 11 tickets to Beyoncé’s upcoming Renaissance Tour.
Welcome To The Week In Review.
The State of Drug Price Reform
President Biden highlighted the ways the historic drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act are helping and will continue to help people across the United States in his State of the Union (SOTU) address this week. The new law is already providing relief for millions of people on Medicare like David and Marguerite, who both will benefit from the Medicare $35-a-month insulin copay cap provision and were guests of their senators, Tammy Baldwin and Mark Warner respectively, at the address. “As a diabetic and someone living on a fixed income, and as someone who didn’t make a whole lot of money back in the day as a teacher, I’m delighted to be saving close to two thousand dollars a year on my medicines, especially insulin,” said Virginia native Marguerite. Patients will next feel the impact of the reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act on April 1 when many patients who receive drugs at doctors’ offices and hospitals may have prescription coinsurance increases due to drug company price hikes limited to the rate of inflation. This means many patients who once were at the mercy of drug company price increases, may have their cost increases limited, delivering savings and more predictability. To ensure that patients continue seeing relief from the new law, the President strongly vowed to veto any attempts that Big Pharma allies might make to weaken the new law and raise drug prices. Earlier this week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden made a similar commitment, pledging to stand in the way of any pharma attempts to weaken the Inflation Reduction Act. “Anybody [who] wants to water down the consumer protection provisions that we won after this titanic battle is gonna have to run over me,” he pledged at an event with Protect Our Care this week. President Biden also reminded the nation that the Inflation Reduction Act includes a provision that gives Medicare the power to negotiate lower prices for drugs, which willresult in nearly $300 billion in savings through 2031 without slashing any benefits — debunking a liepeddled yet again by Big Pharma allies. The President’s message on Tuesday was clear: Thanks to the historic new drug price law, patients pay less and taxpayers save money. The state of drug pricing in the United States? A whole lot better than last year, but with more fights ahead to lower prices for all. — (NBC News, Endpoints, WisPolitics, Fredericksburg Today, Legacy Newspaper, Endpoints, P4ADNow, Fierce Healthcare, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy)
2. “Six Thousand A Month Would Ruin Us.”
We are in the midst of what may well be the “golden age of drug discovery” in which many patients for the first time have the hope of new, effective treatments that could treat or even cure their conditions. Currently, however, these miracle medications come with a price tag that pushes them entirely out of reach for far too many people who need them. For doctors and patients alike, this reality is heart wrenching. “The idea that the care you deliver could bankrupt somebody and hurt an entire family is devastating,” shared reconstructive urologist Dr. Benjamin Breyer. For patient Scott Matsuda, who lives with a rare form of chronic leukemia and suffered for years from terrible side effects of his chemotherapy drugs, the innovation of a new pill, Jakafi, was “amazing”. The drug slowed the progression of his disease with no side effects, but it would cost him $6,000 every month. “We are solidly middle-class. We pay all our bills. We have a good credit score. Six thousand a month would ruin us,” Scott said. So for a while he simply went without Jakafi, suffering horrible side effects from chemotherapy drugs and further progression of his disease before he finally was able to find financial assistance through a private foundation. Kentucky patient Sue Lee has had to entirely forgo her Humira, which she says was a wonder drug for treating her painful plaque psoriasis, all because AbbVie has had unfettered pricing power for the last 20 years, allowing the pharmaceutical giant to hike the price again and again. She hopes that biosimilar competitors for Humira coming to market this year might help drive down the price, but she worries the savings will be minimal, keeping the drug out of reach until the $2,000 Medicare out-of-pocket cap provision from the Inflation Reduction Act goes into effect in 2025. The fact remains: Drug corporations won’t stop setting unjustified prices unless we stop them. — (The New York Times, The Journal)
3. Bipartisan Senate Judiciary Votes To Lower Drug Prices
The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Dick Durbin and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, passed out of committee, with bipartisan support, a package of five bills that will promote competition to lower drug prices for patients. The bills crack down on patent abuse, increase coordination between the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to ensure patents are used to reward innovation and not to unfairly block competition, and investigate the practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). “Together these bills can help to restore balance to our drug price system and increase competition to lower drug prices for patients,” said P4ADNow executive director Merith Basey about the package. “The bipartisan support early in the 118th Congress demonstrates the public popularity of efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs,” Politico reported. We agree – these reforms have been long-sought by patient advocates, and it’s time Senate Majority Leader Schumer brings these bills to the Senate floor and that all senators vote to pass them. — (Endpoints, P4ADNow, Politico)
Déjà vu: Yet again, Bristol Myers Squibb/Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson hiked prices of two critical blood thinners in lockstep at the beginning of the year. In January, Eliquis’ price was hiked by 6 percent (from $529 to $560), and Xarelto’s was hiked by 5 percent (from $516 to $542). Check out our report from last year for a reminder of how drug companies use methods like “shadow pricing” — a practice that Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Katie Porter requested the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice investigate.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Welcome To The Week In Review.
The First Humira Competitor Has Arrived In The U.S.
AbbVie’s blockbuster drug Humira faces biosimilar competition for the first time in the drug’s 20-year reign in the United States. Amjevita, manufactured by Amgen, is the first of many biosimilars that are likely to come to market this year to compete with Humira and will serve as a key test of whether biosimilars will drive down drug prices in a meaningful way for patients. AbbVie has been able to raise Humira’s annual price to more than $80,000 over the last 20 years by exploiting the patent system, applying for more than 300 patents related to Humira (a shady tactic known as “patent thicketing”), and suing competing biosimilars to delay their launches. “The result is that we have been paying roughly five times what they pay in the EU for Humira,” shared cancer patient and P4AD founder David Mitchell. “And patients in the US have suffered economic and physical harm as a result.” Sue Lee is one of those patients. She took Humira to treat painful sores caused by a chronic skin condition called psoriasis, but when she retired and went on Medicare, the drug suddenly cost her $8,000 per year – which she couldn’t afford. Without the medication, her sores “came back with a vengeance.” With additional Humira biosimilars slated to be on the market in 2023, patients like Sue hope that the price of the medication may finally be reined in. But that outcome is “a little complicated” to predict. “With biosimilars, there can be different rules, and doctors will likely need to see big savings to want to push you over to this new drug,” explained NPR pharmaceuticals correspondent Sydney Lupkin. “But there are expected to be several more Humira biosimilars this summer, and that could start to move the needle on price.” We sure hope so – patients have been waiting for this relief for far too long. — (Tradeoffs, The New York Times, Financial Times, NPR)
2. The Inflation Reduction Act? “I Think It’s Wonderful.”
The drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act that went into place this year are bringing much-needed relief to patients across the United States. Debra Coleman, who lives in South Carolina, was unable to afford the $150 it would have cost her for the Shingrix vaccine before the law passed. “I don’t have that kind of extra money,” Debra said. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, vaccines are now free for people on Medicare like Debra. The new law also caps insulin copays at $35 per month for people on Medicare – truly “life-changing” for Robert Brown from Wisconsin, whose insulin cost nearly $200 per month for the many years before the law was in place. Looking ahead, patients aren’t the only ones who will see relief from the Inflation Reduction Act – the new law likely saves the U.S. government significant funds. A new study published in The Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) Health Forum found that if the provision allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for costly drugs had existed as the study modeled it from 2018-2020, Medicare would have saved $26.5 billion, or 5% of all drug spending. Considering the average price Medicare paid for brand-name drugs more than doubled from 2009 to 2018, it’s safe to say the drug price reforms are a welcome change to a rigged system. “I think it’s wonderful. It’s the first thing that came across my mind when I was standing in line at (the pharmacy),” remarked Debra on the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. “It was like balloons going up.” We agree, Debra. — (Greenville Business Magazine, WTMJ, NBC News, JAMA Network)
3. Big Pharma’s Big Lobbying
Big Pharma spent record amounts of money lobbying Congress and federal agencies in 2022 – yet the industry still suffered its biggest defeat with the Inflation Reduction Act becoming law. Open Secrets’ new analysis released this week shows that pharmaceutical and health product companies spent $372 million (more than any other industry) on lobbying. The Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) spent $29.2 million on lobbying, making the trade group the top spender in the industry. Pfizer won the prize for biggest spender of any individual drug company, with $14.9 million on federal lobbying, and Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) was the third largest industry spender at nearly $13.3 million. Big Pharma’s power is no joke. “There are currently 1,834 registered lobbyists working for pharmaceutical and health products, meaning the industry has more than three lobbyists for each member of the Congress.” Despite all this power and spending, patients took on Big Pharma and won in 2022. We’ve seen signs of turmoil within the industry ever since – this week, generics manufacturer Tevaquit top industry association PhRMA, making it the second company to leave in the last few months. Politico reported that Teva’s move “follows a rare defeat in a years-long battle against Democrats’ drug pricing measures that included allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.” Looks like Big Pharma’s big lobbying doesn’t stand up to the will of patients. – (Open Secrets, Politico, STAT)
HEADS UP: Following this week’s hearing, we’ll be watching for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s upcoming markup and vote on a package of bipartisan bills that take important steps to address abuses of our patent system that inhibit innovation, block competition, and allow drug corporations to raise prices without restraint.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Welcome To The Week In Review.
“I’m Very Thankful For This.”
The drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act are continuing to provide much-needed relief to patients. A new report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that 1.5 million people on Medicare would have saved an average of $500 on insulin had the insulin copay cap been in place in 2020. “That’s more money in seniors’ pockets,” remarked President Joe Biden upon the release of the report. Senior William Koopman, who lives with type 2 diabetes and will see his insulin costs drop by more than half, shared, “I’m very thankful for this.” For Patricia in Orange County, Virginia, and Bill in Conneaut, Ohio, the Inflation Reduction Act has meant free access to the expensive shingles vaccine. “This vaccine will protect [Patricia] from an excruciatingly painful condition that affects more than 1 million Americans every year,” wrote Patricia’s Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, who supported the legislation. Had the policy been in place in 2020, 3.6 million people on Medicare would have received free shingles shots. These reforms are just the tip of the iceberg for how the Inflation Reduction Act will continue to help patients. “As other parts of the IRA are implemented, 2023 promises to be a year of behind-the-scenes action to shape what consumers pay at the pharmacy counter in the future,” Tradeoffs podcast reported in an interview with STAT News’ Rachel Cohrs. — (HHS, The White House, AARP, Fox News, Star Beacon, KFF, Tradeoffs)
2. Look Out, Big Pharma: Senate Subpoenas On The Horizon
Senate Democrats appear prepared to capitalize on their expanded majority this Congress by wielding their subpoena power to take on corporate corruption, including within the pharmaceutical industry. In December, Senate Majority Leader Schumer suggested that subpoenas will be key to the Democrats’ strategy this year. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who now chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, indicated he has plans to subpoena pharmaceutical executives to come before Congress. “We are living in a country today where drug companies are making huge profits while people split their life-saving pills in half because they can’t afford them,” shared the senator. Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has indicated that he may subpoena drug corporation Amgen if they don’t respond to his repeated requests for the company’s compliance with the committee’s investigation into Amgen’s unusually low tax rates. We are glad to see these senators take on pharmaceutical corporation corruption and represent patients’ best interests. — (Bloomberg, Fierce Pharma)
3. New Congress, New Opportunities For Drug Price Reform
With a new Congress, comes renewed opportunities to fix our drug price system to ensure everyone has access to medications. In the Senate, Senators Grassley, Durbin, Tillis, and Coons introduced bipartisan legislation this week that would establish a task force between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to encourage collaboration and aid each agency in boosting competition to drive down the prices of prescription drugs and other goods. “Congress must lead the way in making the patent system more accountable to the public,” the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge (I-MAK)’s Tahir Amin and Priti Krishtel wrote in an op-ed. And, more good news for patients, key members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have doubled down on their commitment to crack down on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) this Congress. Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability James R. Comer plans to hold hearings that look into PBMs, and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden is encouraged by the commitment from members of both parties to work on legislation that takes on the middlemen. The New York Timesthis week laid out a third area that Congress has yet to address: The groundbreaking gene therapies coming to market at astronomical prices. These therapies are powerful treatments, and potential cures, for some of the world’s most devastating diseases, but, “the situation simply isn’t sustainable,” said Ruth Lopert, a health economist at George Washington University. “If it comes all at once and the payments can’t be stretched out, it will have a crushing effect,” shared Dr. Steven Pearson, president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. We are committed to continue to work with Congress and fight for reforms until all patients can afford the prescription drugs they need. – (Office of Senator Grassley, The Hill, Roll Call, Politico, The New York Times)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Happy Lunar New Year! May the year of the rabbit bring you peace, longevity, prosperity, and lower drug prices ?
Welcome To The Week In Review.
Inflation Reduction Act Lowers Insulin Costs (And More) For People On Medicare
Americans are continuing to feel relief from the Inflation Reduction Act this week, starting with the $35 monthly insulin copay caps for people on Medicare. Steve Lubin, a retired intensive-care nurse from Philadelphia living with type 2 diabetes, is one of millions of people on Medicare who will see savings this year from the implementation of the new law. Last year, Steve’s out-of-pocket costs for his insulin totaled a shocking $1,582. In 2023, his copays will be capped monthly at $35 per prescription for a total end-of-year cost of $630. For thousands of patients, this is going to make a huge difference – between 2007 and 2020, people who received coverage through Medicare saw their out-of-pocket insulin costs quadruple and many were “rationing their insulin or couldn’t take it at all.” AARP’s Leigh Purvis put this new insulin copay cap into perspective in several TV interviews, explaining that this year, the Inflation Reduction Act will help 230,000 people on Medicare who use insulin in Florida, 140,000 in Ohio, and 60,000 in Wisconsin. Millions more throughout the country will feel relief as all of the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act go into effect over the next few years, including free vaccines for people on Medicare, curbs to drug company price gouging above the rate of inflation, a cap on Medicare Part D out-of-pocket costs, and finally direct Medicare negotiation for lower drug prices. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, Purvis told Spectrum News, many people on Medicare “are going to be seeing lower drug prices and lower drug costs.” — (The New York Times, ABC Action News, Spectrum News, News8000)
2. State Efforts To Curb High Prescription Drug Costs
Following the passage of federal drug price reforms, state legislatures and administrations are pursuing state-level drug price reforms to further rein in prices for their constituents. In California, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit accusing Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, and three of the largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) of violating the state’s Unfair Competition Law by increasing the price of insulin far beyond the cost of development and rate of inflation. Bonta characterizes the shady business relationship between PBMs, who negotiate prices on behalf of insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies as “pure profit padding.” California is the sixth state to sue drug companies for insulin prices, joining Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Mississippi. In Virginia and New Mexico, lawmakers are championing bills to establish prescription drug affordability boards that will oversee drug prices in the state. And Indiana lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 8, which would limit PBM greed by requiring the middlemen to pass discounts and rebates back to patients. Thank you to all these state lawmakers for boldly kicking off the year advocating for patients and combating high drug prices! — (The New York Times, The Center Square, KKOB, WFYI)
3. Case Study: Biosimilar Competition Reduces Drug Prices
The Journal of Clinical Oncology published a new study that found that the entry of biosimilar drugs for anticancer medication Herceptin, significantly lowered the price of both brand-name Herceptin and its five biosimilar competitors. Herceptin was granted FDA approval in 1998 to treat HER2+ breast cancer; since then, its manufacturer, Genentech, raised the price to a peak of $89,706 in 2019. The first biosimilar finally came to market that same year. After three years and with the introduction of five biosimilars, Herceptin’s price fell almost 30 percent to $63,592 in 2022. Today, biosimilar treatments are 40 percent less than Herceptin with a price of $38,173. This is a fantastic case of the drug price system working as it should – biosimilars drive competition and lower drug prices for patients who need this life-sustaining medicine — (The American Journal Of Managed Care)
Bonus: On Thursday, our all-star Legislative Director Sarah Kaminer-Bourland spoke as part of a panel at a joint public listening session held by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office and the Food and Drug Administration, where she discussed needed reforms that the two agencies can take on together to fix the rigged patent system, identify actors perpetuating the lack of equity, and lower drug prices as a result. Go Sarah!
The first of the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act went into effect on January 1. For people on Medicare Part D, vaccines are now free and insulin copays are capped at $35 a month. For patients, these reforms are life-changing, “The new cost cap will make a big difference. I won’t have to watch what I use. I can buy groceries,” patient advocate and former nurse Justine Miner, who lives with type 2 diabetes, shared with the Wall Street Journal. Patient advocate Jackie Trapp knows firsthand how expensive essential vaccines can be, she paid more than $200 out of pocket for her shingles vaccine, “I’m so relieved that future patients like me won’t have to spend what I did just to protect themselves from diseases like shingles.” The reforms remain popular among the American people, with majorities across the political spectrum supporting the Inflation Reduction Act and, specifically, the insulin copay cap. This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) outlined their plan for implementing the Medicare drug price negotiation provision in the law. “Today’s announcement is a critical step towards unshackling Medicare and delivering on the promise of drug pricing fairness,” Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden said upon the release of the plan. We couldn’t agree more. — (P4ADNow, P4ADNow, The Wall Street Journal, Navigator Research, Fierce Healthcare, United States Senate Committee On Finance)
2. Perpetual Pandemic Profiteering
This week Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the pharmaceutical company is considering quadrupling the price of its COVID mRNA vaccine as it moves to the commercial market. The huge jump in price to a range of $110 to $130 per dose from the current $26 per dose the company charges the U.S government, mirrors the increase Pfizer plans to make on its mRNA vaccine. This is just more pandemic profiteering on the backs of patients causing incoming Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders to pen a letter to Bancel calling the price increases “unacceptable corporate greed” and highlighting that the vaccine was funded by U.S. taxpayers: “You propose to make the vaccine unaffordable for the residents of this country who made the production of the vaccine possible. That is not acceptable.” — (Axios, Office of Senator Bernie Sanders)
3. Humira Hope For Patients
AbbVie has been gaming the U.S. patent system for years to maintain monopoly pricing power for its blockbuster drug Humira, which treats several debilitating diseases, including psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. The company blocked any biosimilars from coming to market in the U.S. by building up a patent thicket of more than 130 patents, preventing competition and allowing AbbVie to increase the price time and time again to its current astronomical price tag of $81,590 a year. But change is coming — more than half a dozen biosimilar versions of Humira are expected to become available throughout 2023. Patients like Samantha Reid have been waiting for this moment for a long time. “Cost should never be a factor in whether or not people are in pain or suffering or not able to live their lives,” Reid, who has lived with Crohn’s disease since age 18, told the Chicago Tribune. But “it is, and the reason it is, is because companies like AbbVie charge so much for these medications.” P4AD’s David Mitchell added, “AbbVie, and how it has handled Humira, is the poster child for abuse of our patent system.” The next few years “will be a big test of how well can biosimilars perform to lower prices in this country,” Mitchell added. In Europe, where biosimilars for Humira have been on the market since 2018, the drug costs far less. It’s long past time for Humira to get some competition to drive down prices for patients who need this medication. — (Chicago Tribune)
Have a great weekend, everyone!
What. A. Year. Here’s a look back at this momentous moment in drug pricing.
Welcome To The Week In Review.
History Was Made: A New Era For Drug Prices Beginsrs Of Congress Call Out Big Pharma For Covid Vaccine Price Gouging
After the culmination of a decades-long fight, history was made when Congresspassed and President Bidensigned into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower prescription drug prices and cap out-of-pocket costs for at least 50 million Americans on Medicare. “With this legislation, we have changed the trajectory of drug pricing policy in the United States,” saidP4ADNowfounderDavid Mitchell. “We have finally begun to break the power of multinational drug corporations to dictate prices of brand-name drugs to the American people.” This success was hard won by patients, consumers, seniors, unions, small businesses, employers, physicians, nurses, and disease advocacy and human rights organizations whosentletters, ranads, videos, pressconferences, webinars, and tele-town halls. As patients begin to realize savings from this new law in 2023, we will continue to work to lower drug prices for everyone in the U.S. who needs access to affordable medicines.
2. Patient Advocates: The Backbone Of The Win
There is no doubt that patient advocates across the country, especially those who shared their personal experiences of the burden of high drug prices, made passage of the Inflation Reduction Act a reality. Patients were front and center in articles, radioandTVinterviews, podcasts, op-eds, letters, ads, and much more – explaininghowthedrugpricereforms willchangetheirlives for the better andimploringlawmakerstoact. Notably, patients introduced President Biden at the White House and at events on the road, urging passage and celebrating the new drug law and the ways it will benefit patients. “Insulin cost is inhumane,” patient advocate Bob Parant, a Medicare beneficiary who lives with type 1 diabetes, shared ahead of introducing the president (see photo below). “But thanks to President Biden and Democrats in Congress, the reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act will save me, and millions others, hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars a year…The Inflation Reduction Act will allow me to do things I cherish – be able to travel to see my grandkids and also worry less about depleting my retirement savings.” We’re so grateful to our ever-growing community of over 400,000 patients and allies – we could not have done this without you.
Democrats outperformed expectations in the 2022 midterm election – and a keypart of their successful campaigns for Congress was spotlighting the fulfilled promise of lower drug prices from the reforms passed into law in the Inflation Reduction Act. The drug price reforms are verypopularwithvoters – and backing this popular bill helped usher in wins for frontline candidates like Senators CortezMasto and Warnock and Reps. Wild, Pappas, Horsford, Craig, and Phillips. Constituents also took notice when members of Congress opposed the bill and worked to do the bidding of Big Pharma. When Senators Lee, Lankford, Lummis, and Rubiointroduced the so-called Protect Drug Innovation Act, which aims to reverse the life-changing drug price reforms, patientsspokeupanddenouncedthem. And Democrats who didn’t back the reforms had some serious setbacks as well. Reps. Peters, Schrader, Rice, and Murphy attempted to block and then weakened the drug price provisions in the House. The result? Rep. Schrader lost his primary to a Democrat who called out his pharma-friendly policies and Reps. Rice and Murphy chose not to seek re-election. Rep. Peters, the only one still in Congress, lost his bid to lead the New Democrat Coalition, in part due to his pharma friendly policies. The results of this year’s elections are clear: Americans support lower drug prices and those who stand in the way do so at their own political risk.
4. Big Pharma Continued Hiking Drug Prices In 2022
In a year when inflation reached historic heights and the pandemic lingered on, Big Pharma kept hiking drug prices to profit at the expense of patients. The industry started off the year by increasing prices on 554 drugs in early January, then hiked the price of 188 more drugs later that month, for a total of 742 hikes. The pharmaceutical industry raised prices again in July, bringing the total number of price hikes for the first seven months of the year to 1,186 — exceeding the number for the same periods of time in 2020 and 2021. P4AD released a report that details how the drug companies behind Eliquis and Xarelto, two blood thinners used by millions of patients, have raised their prices in lockstep over the past decade to avoid competition and extract increasing profits from patients and taxpayers. (And later in the year, Senator Klobuchar and Rep. Porter wrote a lettercalling on the FTC and DOJ to investigate the lockstep price hikes on the blood thinners Eliquis and Xarelto and whether they constitute a violation of antitrust laws). Big Pharma also brought new drugs to market at record-setting prices – Amylyx Pharmaceuticals set an annual price of new amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) drug Relyvrio (which lacks evidence it is effective for patients) at $158,000; Provention Bio set the price at nearly $200,000 for a 14 day course of a new treatment that may delay the onset of type 1 diabetes for an average of 2 years; and CSL Behring’s new breakthrough treatment, Hemgenix, for hemophilia is now the most expensive drug in the world with a whopping price tag of $3.5 million per dose. New innovation is worthless for those who can’t pay unjustifiably high prices – drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them!
5. Big Pharma Lost, Despite Spending Record Amounts On Lies
The drug industry spentrecord amounts of money to try to stop the Inflation Reduction Act from passing – yet the industry still suffered its biggest loss in decades. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and closely allied groups spent at least $57 million on ads in the year leading up to the law’s passage. On lobbying, PhRMA spent over $29 million and allied industry association BIO spent over $13 million. These lobbyists and ads spread Big Pharma lies to scare patients and lawmakers about the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act. The Washington Post, KHN, and Kaiser Health News and Politifactdebunked these claims and set the record straight on Medicare negotiation and government spending. In August, P4ADNow sent a letterto Democrats in Congress countering the drug lobby PhRMA’s letter to Capitol Hill that was rife with drug industry lies meant to intimidate members of Congress as they sprinted toward a vote on the legislation. In the end, patients took on Big Pharma power and won. We’ve seen signs of turmoil within the industry ever since – BIO’s CEO resigned soon after the passage of the landmark legislation, one of PhRMA’s top lobbyists left the trade group the same month the new drug price law was passed, and in December, AbbVie left several industry trade groups including PhRMA and BIO. As STAT summarized: “PhRMA, once a titanic lobbying powerhouse, lost its edge.”
One more thing: Here at P4AD, we were thrilled to welcome Merith Basey as our new executive director! Her arrival came at a key moment when sweeping reforms to the U.S. drug price system became law and advocates are turning to other key policies to ensure patients and all of us here in the United States can afford the drugs we need. Check out thesevideos to get to know her better!
