Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Secretary Says Trump Wants To 'Go Further' Than Previous Plans To Tackle High Drug Costs
Reuters: President Trump Wants To Go Further On Drug Prices: HHS Secretary
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday said President Donald Trump wants to go further in lowering drug prices, an issue he campaigned on during the 2016 presidential race. "HHS is currently working with the President on a comprehensive strategy to solve these problems," Azar said in a speech at World Health Care Congress. "We'll be building on the proposals in the President’s budget, but he wants to go further." (Banerjee, 5/2)
The Hill: HHS Secretary: Trump Drug Pricing Plan Will Go 'Much Further' Than Budget Proposal
Azar referred to the upcoming plan as a “comprehensive strategy” and briefly laid out the four areas the plan will address at a speech at the annual World Health Care Congress. The list includes tackling high list prices, seniors and government programs paying too much for drugs, rising out-of-pocket costs, and foreign governments “free-riding off of American investment in innovation.” (Roubein, 5/2)
CQ: Drugmakers Seek To Influence Trump's Drug Pricing Speech
The head of the drug industry trade group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America President and CEO Stephen Ubl, told reporters Wednesday that drug cost concerns “are borne of this populist impulse that we have to acknowledge.” He said executives realize that people are paying more for their health care and medicine, but want to convince federal officials to make changes only in a "market-oriented way" that would not involve price controls. “We’ve been steadfast in the view that Medicare setting drug prices or importation would be a step in the wrong direction,” Ubl said. “Some of these other ideas through market-based approaches, whether it’s rebates and discounts, whether it’s reforms at the FDA that encourage generic entry, addressing barriers to moving towards outwards-based contracting, we’ve tried to be forward-leaning in terms of our view of a better way of addressing these challenges.” (McIntire, 5/2)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Stat: Maine Becomes The Latest State To Adopt A Law Seeking Transparency On Drug Pricing
[Unlike] a few states that quickly required drug makers to provide cost and pricing information about their medicines – California, Vermont, Nevada, and Oregon — Maine is taking a two-step approach. Initially, a state agency will collect data on the 25 costliest and most frequently prescribed drugs in the state, along with the medicines that result in the highest year-over-year cost increases based on total state spending. Next year, the legislature will look to expand the law to require cost and pricing information directly from drug makers. (Silverman, 5/2)
The Hill: Drug Industry Faces Trump-Fueled Storm Over Prices
Drugmakers are trying to navigate a growing storm over high drug prices as President Trump prepares to unveil new actions on the issue. The drug industry has traditionally been able to beat back actions from Washington, notably escaping unscathed in the fight over ObamaCare. But the climate appears to be changing. (Sullivan, 5/2)
Stat: Esperion Plot To Frustrate Regeneron And Sanofi Runs Into A Safety Problem
Esperion Therapeutics (ESPR) cleared a key hurdle in its quest to drive a wedge into the market for cardiovascular drugs, establishing that its drug lowered bad cholesterol in a large trial. But more patients taking the drug died than those getting placebo, raising questions about whether Esperion’s therapy will prove safe enough to win approval. In a study on more than 2,200 patients already taking statins, Esperion’s drug cut bad cholesterol 20 percent better than placebo over 12 weeks, the company said. Over the course of a year, the drug outperformed placebo by 16 percent, according to the company. (Garde, 5/2)
