In case you missed it, a new article in Inside Health Policy reported that “Investors for eight major drug companies will vote throughout the spring on 11 proposals aimed at reducing the use of common drug patent practices and pharmaceutical lobbying activities that they say hinder the equitable access and affordability of brand name medications for patients.”
The article sheds light on how shareholders of big drug companies are questioning the various anti-competitive tactics of these companies that are actually increasing prescription drug prices for American patients and families.
The article states: “A major request across each proposal is for drug makers to consider how carrying on with unpopular pricing strategies that contribute to rising drug costs could hurt their reputations, Oxfam America Senior Advisor, Health and Vaccine Equity Jennifer Reid told Inside Drug Pricing.”
Evidence of Drug Company Pricing Abuses:
A January 2023 report from Matrix Global Advisors (MGA) assessed five brand name drugs around which big drug companies have built patent thickets. The report found the yearly cost of delayed competition due to these patent thickets ranges from $1.8 billion to $7.6 billion.
Another report from I-MAK’s “Overpatented, Overpriced: Curbing Patent Abuse: Tackling The Root Of The Drug Pricing Crisis,” found that abuse of the patent system is “The root of the drug pricing crisis” and that “On average, there are 74 granted patents on each of America’s ten top selling drugs, providing major drugmakers substantial advantage to keep generic and biosimilar competitors off the market.”
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Learn more about public policy solutions that would promote competition in the prescription drug market and effectively lower prices for patients HERE.
PCMA’s recent Policy Forum, held on April 25, 2023, featured policymakers – including key Administration officials and Congressional staffers – and PBM executives to discuss how the public and private sectors are tackling drug costs and improving both the affordability and quality of care for patients. View the PCMA Policy Forum HERE.
The Hill recently hosted and PCMA sponsored an event titled, “Prescription for Change: Improving Competition to Lower Drug Prices,” where lawmakers and a panel of drug pricing and economic experts discussed the importance of promoting competition as the most effective way to lower prescription drug costs. Watch the event HERE.
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PCMA is the national association representing America’s pharmacy benefit companies. Pharmacy benefit companies are working every day to secure savings, enable better health outcomes, and support access to quality prescription drug coverage for more than 275 million patients. Learn more at www.pcmanet.org
