Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'$1B Here We Come': Congressional Memos Expose Shkreli's Emails About Price Hikes
The New York Times: Martin Shkreli All But Gloated Over Huge Drug Price Increases, Memos Show
Martin Shkreli anticipated huge profits from raising the price of a decades-old drug for an infectious disease, belying any notion that helping patients was foremost in his mind, according to information released by congressional investigators on Tuesday. The investigators also provided evidence showing that Valeant Pharmaceuticals International carefully pondered how much it could raise the price of two old heart drugs, Isuprel and Nitropress, before buying them a year ago and increasing their prices overnight, by 525 percent for Isuprel and 212 percent for Nitropress. (Pollack and Goldstein, 2/2)
The Associated Press: Congress: Drugmakers Planned Price Hikes To Boost Profits
Two drugmakers have made a practice of buying and then dramatically hiking the prices of low-cost drugs given to patients with life-threatening conditions including heart disease, AIDS and cancer, according to excerpts from thousands of documents released by federal lawmakers. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, released the information Tuesday ahead of a hearing Thursday to examine exorbitant price spikes. Cummings has used his position atop the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to investigate several companies that have bought previously low-cost drugs and jacked up their prices many times over. (2/2)
The Wall Street Journal: Valeant, Turing Boosted Drug Prices To Fuel Preset Profits
A number of pharmaceutical companies have raised the prices of drugs after acquiring the rights to sell them in the U.S., a tactic that some Wall Street analysts say is contributing to higher spending on prescription medicines and has prompted criticism of price gouging. From 2014 to 2015, Valeant raised the price of more than 20 prescription products by more than 200%, [congressional] Democrats’ memos say. The company increased the prices of several of these products in some cases by as much as 800%, according to the memos. (Armour and Rockoff, 2/2)
The Washington Post's Wonkblog: How Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli Described His Own Drug Price Hike: ‘Almost All Of It Is Profit.’
In late May of last year, Turing Pharmaceuticals, then a little-known drug company, was nearing a deal to acquire Daraprim, a 62-year-old drug that fights a rare but severe parasitic infection. "Very good. Nice work as usual," the company's young chief executive, Martin Shkreli, wrote to the chairman of the board. "$1 bn here we come." In August, he wrote to someone outside the company that hiking the price of the drug would bring in $375 million a year — "almost all of it is profit," which he predicted would continue for three years. (Johnson, 2/2)
NPR: A Peek Inside Turing Pharmaceuticals: 'Another $7.2 Million. Pow!'
The House Committee on Oversight and Investigations is looking into Turing and other drug companies' price increases. [A] memo, released Tuesday, includes excerpts from the company's internal documents and emails. ... The company thought it could handle blowback from AIDS activists and doctors: "HIV patient advocacy may react to price increase ... we still come out ahead if we can frame this issue within the HIV/AIDS community as a fight between a drug company and insurance companies. As long as everyone who needs Daraprim can get it as soon as they need it, regardless of ability to pay, the community should have no issue. There is no love lost between HIV/AIDS activists and insurance companies, and they certainly don't want to be manipulated by them to fight on their behalf." (Kodjak, 2/2)
Bloomberg: Valeant, Shkreli Put Profits Above Patients, Congress Says
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, both under congressional investigation over skyrocketing drug prices, were focused on making money before helping patients, members of Congress said internal documents obtained from the companies show. “$1 bn here we come,” former Turing Chief Executive Officer Martin Shkreli said in an e-mail to the chairman of the board on May 27, after the company had made progress toward acquiring the antiparasitic drug Daraprim, according to a memo from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s ranking Democrat Elijah Cummingsof Maryland. After buying the drug later that year, Turing raised the price by more than 50-fold, to $750 a pill. (Edney and Bloomfield, 2/2)
Bloomberg: Shkreli Says He Wishes He Could 'Berate,' 'Insult' Congress
Former drug executive Martin Shkreli, who is under investigation for securities fraud and the subject of a congressional inquiry, has replaced his legal team with Benjamin Brafman, the same lawyer who helped get rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs acquitted of gun and bribery charges in 2001. The New York-based lawyer confirmed in an e-mail that he is representing Shkreli. Brafman’s client list also includes Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Michael Jackson, Gambino crime family underboss Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, rapper Jay Z and former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Shkreli announced the legal change during an interview with Fox Business Network on Tuesday. (Edney, 2/2)
