Despite President Donald Trump’s push for his administration to lower drug costs, many drug companies are instead raising prices—and Trump ain’t happy. In fact, the president summoned officials to the Oval Office to voice frustration over the moves, Politico reports.
As the calendar flipped to 2019, dozens of drugmakers raised prices on hundreds of drugs, Rx Savings Solutions CEO Michael Rea, Pharm.D., told FiercePharma. The president caught wind of the increases, and as he has in the past, Trump took to Twitter to voice his disapproval.
As industry watchers know, this year’s price increases come as the Trump administration works to implement its drug pricing blueprint, which aims to boost competition and negotiation in drug markets, and provide incentives for lower list prices and lower out-of-pocket costs. Officials at HHS are working to force drug prices in TV ads, as well as to lower certain Medicare prices, while the FDA has boosted generics approvals and is otherwise working to boost competition.
But the effort hasn’t been without controversy. Last year, amid discussion on the blueprint, Pfizer planned to raise prices on dozens of drugs. Trump tweeted that the company “should be ashamed,” and Pfizer deferred its hikes. Now, the drugmaker plans a set of price increases next week.
Looking ahead, with Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives, drug pricing promises to remain a frequent topic of conversation in Congress this year. Already, Democrats have floated new proposals to fight high prices.
This week’s news comes as thousands of industry players meet in San Francisco for the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Drug costs were part of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s keynote address on Tuesday, when he said the agency shouldn’t be an arbiter of cost-effectiveness. Instead, it’s working to boost competition in drug markets where it’s currently lacking, Gottlieb said. This year, the FDA plans to look at patent issues, complex generics, biosimilars and more.
For his part, Amgen CEO Bob Bradway said on Tuesday that the environment in biopharma is “volatile,” adding that companies won’t be able to grow simply through yearly price hikes on specialty drugs.
By Eric Sagonowsky
Source: Fierce Pharma
Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, is set to become the next board chairman of Novartis, which on Tuesday proposed the pharmaceutical industry veteran as its pick to replace Joerg Reinhardt in the role next year. Reinhardt has served as Novartis’ chair since 2013 and plans to retire when his 12-year term ends in 2025.
GE HealthCare has raised the curtain on two ultrasound systems equipped with artificial intelligence programs designed to assist in diagnosing conditions in women’s health, including obstetric exams. The Voluson Signature 20 and 18 imaging systems include AI tools capable of automatically identifying and annotating measurements of fetal anatomy.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have revealed a new sustainable method of manufacturing complex molecules that could reduce waste produced during drug production. The method published in Nature Chemistry could help to prevent severe side effects caused by drugs that can exist as enantiomers.
