The Week in Review in Prescription Drug Pricing

1. Decades of disinterest

• A pot of government gold – and the prospect for no-strings-attached profits – is fueling pharma’s interest in vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 after *decades* of disinterest in treating infectious disease. Read the second blog in our series on taxpayer funding for COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development. — (P4AD)

2. ? Cries for reform will grow louder ?

• The old way Big Pharma conducts itself isn’t going to fly in our new pandemic paradigm. The public is watching, and if pharma hoards intellectual property and profits at the expense of public health, ensuing cries for reform will be deafening. — (Bloomberg Law)

3. Pandemic price gouging

• A drug maker tripled the price of a pill as it pursued the medication’s use for coronavirus patients – and it’s not an isolated instance. Pharma, we’ve got our ? on you. — (Axios)

4. Follow the money

• The author of “PHARMA: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America,” discusses how drug industry lobbyists successfully blocked proposed measures in the recent $8.3 billion COVID-19 relief package that would have allowed the government to ensure fair prices for COVID-19 drugs. If pharma’s recent, and distant, sordid past has taught us anything, it’s that we can expect more of this. — (The Hill)

5. Without lower drug prices, expect more stories like this

• A Kansas dad of four and aircraft mechanic was laid off just before the coronavirus struck and is about to lose his health insurance. He fears he’ll be forced to choose between feeding his children and buying his insulin. No one should have to make that choice. — (CBS)

Hey there all you cool cats and kittens, hope you are staying healthy at home! Welcome to the Week in Review in prescription drug pricing.

1. COVID-19: Follow the Money

• Patients For Affordable Drugs dug into the massive taxpayer contributions toward COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. The findings? The real heroes of COVID-19 aren’t corner office executives, but the doctors and nurses, grocery store workers, and U.S. taxpayers whose tax dollars will drive the discovery of life-saving vaccines and treatments. — (Patients For Affordable Drugs)

2. Victory in Minnesota

• Drug pricing and Insulin-for-All advocates in Minnesota are celebrating a win after the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act was officially signed into law. The hard-won reform provides relief to those in urgent need and struggling to afford their insulin. — (Star Tribune)

3. Taxpayers Deserve a Say

• A new NIH-led public-private partnership to accelerate COVID-19 treatments and vaccines is a welcome development — but it fails to address future pricing of those drugs. Since taxpayers are investing extraordinary amounts toward the development of COVID-19 drugs, they deserve a say when the time comes to set a price. — (NIH)

4. Members of Congress Call For Drug Pricing Action

• As the pandemic’s economic fallout continues to devastate Americans financially and COVID-19 treatments and vaccines are under development, members of Congress are calling for action to address skyrocketing drug costs and ensure that COVID-19 drugs are affordable for all Americans. — (Here & Here)

5. States Taking Charge

• States around the country continued to lead the way by passing sweeping drug price reforms ranging from insulin copay caps to PBM crackdowns, all within the last month. Even during a crisis, states are getting the job done. — (STAT)

With promising news on the horizon, we cannot stress this enough – stay home and save lives!

1. Taxpayers deserve a good deal

• In the race to find COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, taxpayers are investing in research to get the job done. Drug corporations shouldn’t be allowed to set prices on products taxpayers helped to research and develop — they must partner with the US government to set fair and affordable prices for everyone. — (Inside Health Policy)

2. Patients make it happen ?

• After patients penned a letter calling on insulin manufacturers to lower the price of insulin during the COVID-19 crisis, Eli Lilly announced they would offer a program that allows people with diabetes to purchase their insulin products for $35 a month. It’s a win for patients, but we still need action to *lower list prices for ALL.* — (CNBC)

3. Drug Pricing Reform NOW

• From Maine to Nebraska, Americans are calling on Congress to take action and lower the cost of prescription drugs by passing the Prescription Drug Pricing Reform Act. — (Bangor Daily News) and (Lincoln Journal Star)

1. #DemandLowerListPrices

• As COVID-19 severely threatens the diabetes community’s health and finances, more than 60 people with diabetes and Patients For Affordable Drugs penned an open letter demanding lower list prices on insulin. — (P4AD)

2. Preparation + Opportunity

• The global pandemic has put a lot of Congressional goals on the backburner this spring. But with millions of Americans facing pay cuts and layoffs, it’s more urgent than ever to address exorbitant drug prices, and Congress still has a great opportunity to act come fall. — (STAT)

3. Put a Cap On It

• Following the lead of several other states, Washington approved a bill that would limit out-of-pocket costs for insulin to $100 for a 30-day supply. While the Big 3 insulin manufacturers should drop the price for all people with diabetes, this is a start. — (The Seattle Times)

1. “Drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them”

• P4AD founder and cancer patient, David Mitchell, writes about how the growing crisis around COVID-19 brings into stark view America’s broken drug pricing system. — (Patients For Affordable Drugs)

2. Taxpayers left to foot the bill

• Facing a wave of public criticism and accusations of profiteering, drug maker Gilead backpedalled its request for orphan drug designation for a potential coronavirus drug that would have blocked competition, allowed tax breaks, and boosted their profits. — (The New York Times)

3. Prices Slashed

• Rising Pharmaceuticals, makers of the touted potential coronavirus drug, chloroquine, rolled back a price hike from the beginning of the year. It goes to show price gouging happens all the time, and must be curbed all the time, pandemic or no pandemic. — (STAT)

4. Drug prices continue to soar

• A new study revealed that brand drug prices have increased three times faster than the rate of inflation even when you factor in discounts they give to insurers. More than ever, we need drug pricing reform. — (WESA)

5. Buying policies to put profits over patients

• Kaiser Health News dug into FEC filings and found that Senators working to advance pro-Pharma proposals were the recipients of hefty campaign donations from pharmaceutical manufacturer-associated PACs. — (Kaiser Health News)

1. Step in the Right Direction

• A recent CBO score estimates that the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act would save nearly $95 billion in the next decade. The landmark legislation would establish a new Part D out-of-pocket cap and penalize drug companies for increasing prices higher than the rate of inflation. — (Healthcare Dive)

2. A Mitchell Minute

• P4AD’s very own David Mitchell spoke with The Heartland Institute’s Health Care News podcast to discuss the bipartisan Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act and why we all should support it. — (The Heartland Institute)

3. Iowa Republican leader calls for action on Senate Finance drug pricing bill

• Laura Kaminenski, chairperson of the Linn County Republican Committee, called on Sen. McConnell to support Sens. Grassley and Ernst by bringing the Senate Finance bill to the floor for a vote. We couldn’t agree more. — (Des Moines Register)

4. Business as Usual

• Despite an ever-growing insulin affordability crisis, the head of Eli Lilly received a massive pay increase, making him one of the highest-paid pharma CEOs. — (Fierce Pharma)

5. Sticker Shock

• Patients across the country are finding that their insurance plans are covering fewer and fewer of their drugs. For some, there is no generic option and, thanks to high list prices, the out-of-pocket costs can be staggering. — (NPR)

Wash your hands and catch up on drug pricing news!

1. Done being silent

• Millennials with lifelong chronic illnesses need never-ending care and face alarmingly high and rising health care costs. That’s why members of this generation are speaking up to advocate for change across health care, including lowering drug prices. — (Teen Vogue)

2. Too much pain to smile

• Scarlett Woodard, of Georgia, can’t afford the pricey drug Lyrica to combat her chronic pain, and as a result, it hurts too much for her to smile. That’s why Woodard pushed back against the rigged system in a letter to her local paper, encouraging Congress to pass the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act. — (Albany Herald)

3. Address insulin list prices

• The Trump Administration proposed a program that aims to lower out-of-pocket costs for some Medicare beneficiaries. It’s not enough; we must address the skyrocketing list prices of insulin, the headwaters of the drug pricing crisis. — (The New York Times)

4. There are solutions

• P4AD Founder David Mitchell talks with podcast host and oncologist Chadi Nabhan. The two discuss solutions to lower drug prices, from reforming the U.S. patent system to pricing new gene therapies fairly. — (Outspoken Oncology)

5. Yes, it can be done

• Joe Grogan, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, penned an op-ed this week urging Congress to come together to pass drug pricing reform legislation. Yet again the administration endorsed thePrescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act, which would rein in drug price hikes and help seniors afford vital medications. Let’s get it done! — (WSJ)

Slow news week. ?

 
1. Debunked

• A new analysis published in JAMA undercuts one of pharma’s most misleading figures. All told, four studies and a handful of editorials in the influential journal’s special issue show there is plenty of room to reduce prices, maintain R&D, and provide a fair profit for these companies. — (BioPharma Dive) 

2. Shareholders before R&D

• A ? new analysis from Axios shows Big Pharma used a tax windfall to juice executive and investor payoffs instead of investing in R&D or lowering drug prices. May the data help fuel reforms. — (Axios) 

3. We want our money back, Mallinckrodt

• The Justice Department is suing Mallinckrodt, accusing it of defrauding Medicaid out of hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates for its blockbuster drug Acthar Gel. The drug has also cost Medicare billions and families in the epilepsy community have dealt with a 97,000 percent price spike since 2001.  — (FiercePharma)

4. Guilty!

• A Novartis generics unit will pay a $195 million fine — the largest the DOJ has ever levied — in a federal antitrust suit. Oh, and as part of the resolution, the pharmaceutical corporation could share with the feds its dealings with co-conspirators. — (AP)

5. Attorneys take on drug prices

• In Texas, the Harris County Attorney filed a lawsuit accusing generic drug manufacturers of price fixing. Meanwhile, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief arguing for state regulation of pharmacy benefit managers. — (Houston Chronicle)