While ACA Was Never Boon Pharma Hoped For, Industry Now On Tenterhooks Over TrumpCare
It's unclear what any replacement proposals hold in store for pharmaceutical companies, but it seems like it might be a mixed bag. Meanwhile, some leaders in the industry think their colleagues' relief at a Trump administration instead of a Clinton administration is premature.
Stat:
Drug Makers Are Getting Ready To Shape Trumpcare
The upcoming fight over repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act promises to shake up hospitals and insurers, but drug makers also stand to gain — or lose — a lot. On the upside, congressional Republicans have already signaled that they plan to roll back billions of dollars in fees the law imposed on the industry. But drug makers also risk losing millions of new customers who became insured under the health care law. And if President-elect Donald Trump and Congress decide they need to cover the full cost of whatever they propose to replace the law, they might turn to drug companies to pay up. (Scott, 12/2)
Bloomberg:
Trump May Be More ‘Vicious’ On Drug Prices, Pharma CEO Says
Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential race, often cited as a boon to free-market health care, doesn’t mean drugmakers are free of scrutiny over prices, an industry leader said. U.S. pharmaceutical shares rose after the defeat of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who had vowed to go after companies’ “gouging.” Yet if more pricing scandals emerge like the one that beset Mylan NV’s EpiPen, President-elect Trump could be more “vicious” than Clinton, Allergan Plc Chief Executive Officer Brent Saunders said Thursday. (Hopkins and Tracer, 12/1)
Reuters:
Pharma Execs Weigh In On Possible Changes Under Trump
Top executives from large U.S. drugmakers on Thursday discussed for the first time possible changes for the industry under President-elect Donald Trump, and issues that have damaged the reputation of their industry. (Pierson, Berkrot and Humer, 12/1)
Bloomberg:
Pharma CEOs In Shouting Match Over Prices: ‘It’s Ridiculous’
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. Chief Executive Officer Leonard Schleifer jumped into the drug pricing debate Thursday at a health-care conference, accusing fellow drug company executives he shared a stage with of raising prices to cover up a lack of innovation. ... Ian Read, who leads drugmaker giant Pfizer Inc., countered with an oft-cited statistic that drug costs as a percentage of health-care expenses haven’t changed in two decades, regardless of price increases. Schleifer’s response: “You’re not entitled to a fraction of the GDP.” The shouting match was a rare occurrence in an industry that’s been trying to show a united front to defend itself from attacks coming from the outside -- politicians, patients and health benefits managers. In the past 18 months, companies like Mylan NV, the maker of allergy shot EpiPen, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. have emerged as the faces of the public’s outrage over drug costs. (Hopkins and Bloomfield, 12/1)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Stat:
Mylan CEO Accepts Responsibility For EpiPen Price Hikes
In a rare appearance since the EpiPen controversy flared this summer, Mylan Pharmaceuticals CEO Heather Bresch accepted “full responsibility” Thursday for the price hikes that caused national outrage. ... Mylan increased the price of an EpiPen two-pack nearly 550 percent to $608 over the past decade. But, Bresch reiterated remarks she made about the price of EpiPen at a congressional hearing in September, citing a lack of transparency in the pharmaceutical pricing system for the controversy surrounding the product. She justified the price increases by pointing to investments made to improve the device and patient access. (Silverman, 12/1)
