Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Allergan CEO: Predatory Pricing Tactics Violate Social Contract With Public
Stat: Allergan CEO Promises To Limit Price Hikes On Drugs
Seeking to deflect harsh criticism of the pharmaceutical industry, one chief executive officer — Allergan’s Brent Saunders — has taken the unusual step of promising to avoid “price gouging” and agreed to limit price hikes on brand-name medicines. In a blog post on the company website on Tuesday, Saunders wrote that Allergan — which is probably best known for selling Botox — would not raise prices more than once a year and that any price hikes will be limited to single-digit percentage increases. And Saunders also committed to avoiding “major” prices hikes without any corresponding increases in costs as products near patent expiration. Drug makers often raises prices as medicines are about to lose patent protection in order to extract as much revenue as possible before generic competition arrives. (Silverman, 9/6)
Reuters: Allergan Vows Limited Price Hikes, Says 'Outliers' Deter Research
The chief executive officer of Allergan Plc said his company would limit annual price increases on its prescription drugs, and that "outlier" drugmakers that have imposed huge price increases on their products were scaring off venture capital investors. Allergan, the maker of such products as Botox, plans to raise prices no more than once a year and keep price hikes to no more than low-to-mid-single-digit percentages, slightly above the current annual rate of inflation, CEO Brent Saunders said on Tuesday. (Pierson, 9/6)
FiercePharma: Allergan CEO Swears Off Big Price Hikes In Manifesto On Pharma's 'Social Contract'
Allergan CEO Brent Saunders has made plenty of pronouncements during his tenure: His company is a “growth pharma,” never a “Big Pharma.” But today, he released his most dramatic decree yet. “We will limit price increases,” Saunders promised in his CEO blog Tuesday, becoming the first chief executive of a major drugmaker to do so. When prices do rise, they’ll go up only once a year, and “they will be limited to single-digit percentage increases.” (Staton, 9/6)
The Washington Post: Botox-Maker Allergan Takes On Pharma’s Pricing Problem — A ‘Festering Wound’
"I think the entire biopharmaceutical sector needs to take a step back, look in the mirror and figure out how do we discipline ourselves and self-police ourselves to be able to balance investing in research and development and innovation -- and pricing our medicines responsibly," Saunders said. "Allergan is going to be a different kind of company, that’s going to put the social contract with patients and physicians in front of all of our business decisions. And in doing so, we can run one of the most successful growth pharma companies in our industry." (Johnson, 9/6)
For more news on high drug costs, check out our weekly feature, Prescription Drug Watch, which includes coverage and perspectives of the issue.
