Perspectives: Trump’s Pricing Proposal Raises Questions About How U.S. Pays For Drugs

The Wall Street Journal: Why Are Drugs Cheaper In Europe?
President Trump unloaded last week that the U.S. pays more for drugs—“same company, same box, same pill”—than, say, the United Kingdom or France. “And I’d say: ‘Why is this?’” His latest proposal reveals he still doesn’t know, so allow us to explain why the U.S. shouldn’t put the world’s most innovative drug market at the mercy of what Greece is willing to pay for a cancer treatment. ... The reason European countries pay less for drugs is because they run single-payer health systems and dictate the prices they’re willing to pay. Don’t like it? They’ll then vitiate your patents and make a copycat. This is hardly a “voluntary” discount. Other countries have the luxury of extortion because the U.S. produces more drugs than the rest of the world combined. Mr. Trump mentioned these realities in his speech but blew past them to suggest importing the same bad behavior. (10/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Socialist Health-Care Scheme
The biopharmaceutical industry saves more lives, relieves more suffering, and reinvests more profits into innovation than any other in the world. Yet the sector has become a public punching bag. Everyone from liberal Democrats to President Trump argues that drugs cost too much. The problem is that “lowering drug prices” has different meanings to different people. If the goal is to help patients afford their medicine, a set of rational policy choices could help. If the goal is to stick it to pharma and help insurance companies and the government save money, then the Trump administration is on the right track—only it will come at the expense of innovation, cures, patients and jobs. (Jim Greenwood, 10/29)

Bloomberg: A Potent Heart Drug’s Price Cut May Be A Blueprint
It was a big week for health care, with President Donald Trump’s ambitious new plan to lower drug costs taking center stage. But there was another big development on the drug-pricing front that may be just as significant. On Wednesday, Amgen Inc. reduced the $14,500 list price of its potential blockbuster cholesterol medicine Repatha by 60 percent. This isn’t something that happens for a novel and highly effective drug that has just been on the market for just three years. In fact, it almost never happens at all. List prices — the sticker amount on drugs — typically stay constant and serve as a starting point for negotiations. Discounting comes from behind-the-scenes rebates paid to health plans and pharmacy benefit managers, which serve as the middlemen between pharmaceutical companies and insurers. (Max Nisen, 10/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Follow The FDA’s Self-Interest
Bringing a new drug to market now takes, on average, $2.6 billion and more than 10 years. Those numbers could shrink, and countless patients could benefit, if Food and Drug Administration regulators were less risk-averse. I know that from firsthand experience. Oct. 30 marks the 36th anniversary of the FDA’s approval of human insulin synthesized in genetically engineered bacteria, the first product made with “gene splicing” techniques. As the head of the FDA’s evaluation team, I had a front-row seat. Although drugmakers and regulators were exploring unknown territory—the kind of situation that usually causes bureaucrats to dive for cover—the development of the drug and its regulatory review proceeded rapidly. (Henry I. Miller, 10/28)

The Hill: A Dem-Controlled House Could Work With Trump To Lower Drug Prices 
U.S. prescription drug prices are exceedingly high and no one knows this better than seniors, who are on fixed incomes and must still choose between food and medicine. President Trump has put the blame on Big Pharma, but so far he’s only offered mild salves for the problem. However, this may change if the Democrats succeed in taking back the House this November. The 116th Congress could have an opportunity to work with the Trump administration to break the logjam on this urgent and vexing issue. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) indicated the party would push prescription drug legislation early next year. (Max Richtman, 10/25)

Bloomberg: Pfizer’s Lingering Hospira Woes Are Troubling
As it approaches a CEO transition, Pfizer Inc.’s management has plenty of issues on its plate. But what should really worry investors is that it can’t seem to put an old one to rest. The pharmaceutical giant announced third-quarter earnings that didn’t reassure investors. Pfizer missed analysts’ sales estimates and lowered the midpoint of its full-year revenue guidance. Foreign exchange is partly to blame, but so are drug shortages from its Hospira injectable drugs business — which suggests that drug-supply headaches that should have been resolved are lingering in a serious way. (Max Nisen, 10/30)