FiercePharmaPoliticsTrump unveils favored-nation drug pricing executive order, and pharma hits back – FiercePharma

Welcome to theFiercePharmapolitical roundup, where each Monday well highlight developments in Washington, D.C., and elsewherethat could affect drug pricing and howdrugmakersoperate.

After toutinga series ofexecutive orders on drug pricing in late July, President Donald Trump has now unveiledthe most significant among theman order tying Medicare's drug prices to much lower costs in other developedcountries. Thebiopharmaindustry pushed back hard, and its unclear exactly when or how the changes would be implemented.

Theexecutive order, released Sunday, saysMedicare should not buycertainPart B or Part D drugs unless at prices paid byat a minimum, the lowest price atwhich the manufacturer sells that drug to any other developed nation.In Part D, the plan would apply where insufficient competition exists and where seniors are faced with prices" higher thanthose in other developed nations.

ESMO Post Show: Highlights from the Virtual Conference

Cancer experts and pharma execs will break down the headline-making data from ESMO, sharing their insights and analysis around the conferences most closely watched studies. This discussion will examine how groundbreaking research unveiled over the weekend will change clinical practice and prime drugs for key new indications, and panelists will fill you in on the need-to-know takeaways from oncologys hottest fields. Register today.

Under the order,HHS secretary Alex Azaristo begin developing payment plans and working throughtherulemakingprocess.Experts said the order wont be immediately implementable.

Sundaysorder does not by itself do anything, Kaiser Family Foundationexecutive vice president of health policyLarry Levittwroteon Twitter. It has to be followed up by regulations, which will take time.

Trump has a history of bold talk on drug prices, only to pull back when it comes to putting actual regulations in place, he said.

But by expanding the order toinclude drugs in MedicarePart D, the policy would apply much more broadly than any policy change we've seen so far from the administration, and is an exciting new development, drug pricing expert Rachel Sachswroteon Twitter.

RELATED:Trump's drug pricing executive orders won't bring real change: experts

The biopharma industry responded swiftly, with both major trade groups calling the order reckless.BIO threatened legal action.

PhRMA is committed to working through drug pricing issues with the government, CEO Stephen Ubl said in a statement.Butthe administration has doubled down on a reckless attack on the very companies working around the clock to beat COVID-19," he said.

The order isan irresponsible and unworkable policy that will give foreign governments a say in how America provides access to treatments and cures for seniors and people struggling with devastating diseases, Ubl said.

BIO CEOMichelle McMurry-Heathechoed the sentiment. Amid the pandemic,its simply dumbfounding that the Trump administration would move forward with its threat to import foreign price controls and the inevitable delays to innovation that will follow, she said.

This reckless scheme will eliminate hope for vulnerable seniors and other patients waiting for new treatments by drastically reducing investment in cutting-edge scientific research and development, she added. That is why we will use every tool availableincluding legal action if necessaryto fight this risky foreign price control scheme.

RELATED:Pharma execs, upset by Trump's drug pricing executive orders, refuse White House meeting

The order follows a series of others unveiled in late July that center on creating discountsfor insulin and epinephrine, eliminating rebates andallowing drug imports. The Trump administration said it gave the pharma industry time to negotiate on the favored-nations clause, but those talks didnt yield an acceptable alternative, White House deputy press secretary said, asquotedby CNN.

See the original post:
FiercePharmaPoliticsTrump unveils favored-nation drug pricing executive order, and pharma hits back - FiercePharma

Related Posts

Comments are closed.