Latest news with #pharmaceuticalindustry
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
RFK Jr threatens ban on federal scientists publishing in top journals
Robert F Kennedy Jr has threatened to ban government scientists from publishing in the world's leading medical journals, which he branded 'corrupt', and to instead create alternative publications run by the state. 'We're probably going to stop publishing in the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, Jama and those other journals, because they're all corrupt,' the US health secretary said on the Ultimate Human podcast. He accused the publications of being controlled by pharmaceutical companies. Instead, Kennedy outlined plans to launch government-run journals that would become 'the preeminent journals' because National Institutes of Health funding would anoint researchers 'as a good, legitimate scientist'. The three publications Kennedy targeted are among the most influential medical journals globally, established in the 19th century and now central to disseminating peer-reviewed medical research worldwide. The Lancet and Jama each report more than 30m annual website visits, while the New England Journal of Medicine claims more than 1 million weekly readers. Kennedy has similarly accused the agencies he now oversees – including the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – as 'sock puppets' for the pharmaceutical industry. The second Trump administration has taken an axe to scientific research, with NIH funding cut by more than $3bn since the year before. Kennedy has also purged an estimated 20,000 health department staff from the government. Adam Gaffney, a public health researcher at Harvard Medical School, told the Washington Post: 'Banning NIH-funded researchers from publishing in leading medical journals and requiring them to publish only in journals that carry the RFK Jr seal of approval would delegitimize taxpayer-funded research.' The health secretary's comments followed the release of a White House report last week that challenged medical consensus on vaccines and suggested pharmaceutical influence has prevented proper study of chronic disease causes in children. Kennedy justified his position by citing decade-old concerns from journal editors themselves about pharmaceutical influence, including former New England Journal of Medicine chief Marcia Angell's 2009 warning that 'it is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published' due to financial ties with pharmaceutical companies. The funding cuts and personnel changes have prompted some US scientists to consider relocating abroad, with countries including France, Germany, Spain and China actively recruiting American researchers.
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
President Donald Trump – Will He Become The Drug Price Equalizer?
President Donald Trump didn't achieve significant reductions in drug prices during his first term, yet this time might be different. The President's proposal, of "most favored nation" (MFN) policy, tying U.S. drug prices to the lowest prices paid by other developed countries, might make it this time as the rules have changed. Last time, a major obstacle was the prohibition on Medicare negotiating drug prices. In 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act reduced some barriers and it also gave Medicare a precedent to negotiate prices for the U.S. On May 12, President Trump signed an executive order to reintroduce an MFN-style policy. The U.S. spends $400 billion on prescription drugs every year, often triple what other countries spend and typically more than any other nation. Under MFN, the U.S. would pay no more for a drug than the lowest price paid by any country within a select group of advanced economies, typically OECD countries with similar economic status. The order promises to cut prescription drug prices by 59%, with claims of reductions ranging from 30% to 80% for certain medications. The MFN approach would peg U.S. drug prices, particularly for Medicare, to the lowest price paid in peer countries, aiming to address the longstanding disparity where Americans pay far more for the same drugs than those abroad. However, the pharmaceutical industry remains strongly opposed to the MFN policy and is expected to mount legal and political challenges, as it did previously. Pharmaceutical companies are also lobbying for a phased implementation of tariffs and exemptions for drugs in short supply, due to concerns about increased costs and potential supply disruptions. Large pharmaceutical companies whether U.S. or foreign typically set their highest drug prices in the U.S. market, making it their primary revenue and profit target. High U.S. drug pricing is due to a lack of centralized price controls, fragmented payer systems, and the companies' ability to set monopoly prices on brand-name drugs. The U.S. market offers the best opportunity to maximize profits with its higher prices and larger patient pool for many medications. Companies often use value-based or skimming pricing in the U.S., extracting as much profit as possible, especially for breakthrough or high-demand drugs. Big pharma treats offshore income differently because the rest of the world treats drug pricing differently. Many countries negotiate drug prices centrally, use reference pricing, or demand cost-effectiveness evidence, limiting how much companies can charge. Firms often use tiered pricing, setting lower prices in less affluent markets to maximize access and capture additional revenue, even if margins are lower. Income from non-U.S. markets is often seen as incremental or "found money," since the primary profit targets have already been met in the U.S. This is especially true when the marginal cost of producing additional units is low. The U.S. market having already covered most R&D investment. The critical key in this case is that markets hate turmoil and significant uncertainty and volatility now exists, as the administration's drug pricing policies will be subject to rapid change and ongoing negotiation. This executive order could roil the pharmaceutical waters as turmoil comes with any disruption of the status quo. While disruption caused by innovation may be an initial hardship, it is often incredibly beneficial in the long run. Here the resulting market disruption can cause difficulties for the pharma industry by causing immediate financial impact and long-term operational concerns. As of now, the threat of tariffs has not yet derailed the financial performance of most major pharmaceutical companies. Executives from leading firms, including Novartis and Pfizer, have expressed confidence in their ability to manage short-term disruptions through inventory management and supply chain adjustments. Most companies have maintained their sales and profit forecasts for 2025 and have been stockpiling supplies to mitigate potential tariff impacts. However, the sector remains cautious, with the risk of tariffs looming due to ongoing trade investigations and the potential for substantial new duties to be imposed quickly. Other concerns caused by tariff threats are supply chain disruption and increased risk of shortages. Tariffs on active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excipients (inactive substances that serve as the vehicles or media for a drug or other active substances), and manufacturing equipment threaten to exacerbate existing drug shortages. Generics, which account for 90% of U.S. prescriptions, face heightened danger due to razor-thin profit margins. Industry groups warn that tariffs could force manufacturers to exit the market. While the status of tariffs remains unclear. The United States has recently shifted its trade policy, increasing tariffs on a wide range of imports, including some pharmaceutical components, as part of a broader national security and reshoring strategy. Effective April 2025, a 10% tariff applies to all imported goods, including pharmaceutical ingredients (active pharmaceutical ingredients- APIs), excipients, packaging materials, and processing equipment. Currently, finished pharmaceutical products remain exempt from the new blanket tariffs. Still, this exemption is expected to be temporary, with sector-specific tariffs on finished drugs likely to be imposed soon if the executive order is implemented. The 10% blanket tariff on imported goods under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act has already increased costs for APIs and critical components. Companies face heightened compliance burdens, including precise Harmonized Tariff Schedule classifications to avoid penalties. The Trump administration has announced its intention to impose separate, sector-specific tariffs on finished pharmaceuticals, with rates discussed as high as 25%. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and President Trump have stated these tariffs are 'not available for negotiation' and are expected to take effect within the next month or two. The administration is conducting a Section 232 investigation into pharmaceutical imports, which could lead to further restrictions or higher tariffs based on national security grounds. Goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) continue to see a 0% tariff, while non-USMCA goods face the new tariffs. Political and strategic dilemmas arise from tariff threats. The administration frames tariffs as a national security measure to reshore production, but experts argue relocating manufacturing would take years and prove cost-prohibitive. Meanwhile, drugmakers like Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson warn of potential R&D cuts and workforce reductions to absorb tariff costs. The promise of drug price equalization can relieve some of the system's stress, but it equally has the potential to increase stress. Executive orders and tariff-induced developments create a precarious environment where companies must balance cost absorption, supply chain resilience, and political scrutiny over drug pricing. In summary, tariffs threaten to entrench higher drug prices through supply chain fragility, reduced competition, and systemic cost-push inflation, disproportionately impacting generics and patients reliant on affordable medicine. The new executive order is broader than that proposed during Trump's first administration. It covers Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial markets. However, executive orders cannot override existing federal law, which means that any sweeping changes will almost certainly face lawsuits from the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy benefit managers, and possibly insurers and providers. Industry opposition is strong, with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) labeling the order a 'poor deal for American patients' and preparing for legal action. The order instructs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate lower prices and, if unsuccessful, to impose MFN pricing through rule-making within 180 days. Analysts note the order is 'vague with little detail on implementation,' and the administration's legal authority to enforce such sweeping price controls is unclear. Past attempts to implement similar policies failed due to legal challenges and the complexity of U.S. drug pricing, which involves multiple private and public payers, unlike the single-payer systems in other countries. In the short term, most will opine that the chances of President Trump's executive order fully succeeding in delivering the promised sweeping reductions in drug prices are low. The previously mentioned legal challenges, industry resistance, and unclear implementation authority make it unlikely the order will be enacted as envisioned without further legislative action or significant regulatory changes. Still, even some targeted price reductions or negotiated deals may occur, and if a broad, drug price cut of 30–80% across the market eventually does happen, that begs the question of what else is possible in healthcare reform?
Al Jazeera
12-05-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Trump signs executive order to bring down prescription drug prices
United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he says will bring down the price of prescription drugs in the US by as much as 90 percent. In an announcement on Monday, Trump said drug companies who have been 'profiteering' will have to bring prices down but laid the blame for high prices primarily on foreign countries. 'We're going to equalise,' Trump said during a news conference. 'We're all going to pay the same. We're going to pay what Europe pays.' People in the US have long been an outlier when it comes to the prices they pay for numerous types of life-saving medication, often paying several times more than their peers in other rich countries for nearly identical drugs. That phenomenon is often attributed to the substantial economic and political influence that the pharmaceutical industry wields in the US. The high cost of medical drugs has been a source of popular discontent in the US for years, and Trump accused the pharmaceutical industry of 'getting away with murder' in 2017. But in his remarks on Monday, the US leader also seemed to say that US pharmaceutical companies were not ultimately to blame for the difference in prices. Trump instead framed those high prices in the familiar terms of a trade imbalance with partners such as the European Union and said the US has been 'subsidising' lower drug prices in other nations. That perspective seems to align with the framing of the pharmaceutical industry itself. The industry's most powerful lobbying arm stated the cause of high prices for US consumers is 'foreign countries not paying their fair share'. Senator Bernie Sanders, a left-wing politician who has railed against the high prices paid by US patients for years, said Trump's order wrongly blames foreign countries rather than US companies for those prices. 'I agree with President Trump: it is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,' Sanders said in a statement. 'But let's be clear: the problem is not that the price of prescription drugs is too low in Europe and Canada. The problem is that the extraordinarily greedy pharmaceutical industry made over $100bn in profits last year by ripping off the American people.' A fact sheet shared by the White House said the administration will 'communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal'. The stock prices of US drugmakers ticked upwards after the announcement. Experts have cast doubt on Trump's optimistic assertion that drug prices would drop quickly and substantially. 'It really does seem the plan is to ask manufacturers to voluntarily lower their prices to some point which is not known,' Rachel Sachs, a health law expert at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, told The Associated Press news agency. 'If they do not lower their prices to the desired point, HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] shall take other actions with a very long timeline, some of which could potentially, years in the future, lower drug prices.'
Washington Post
12-05-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Pharmaceutical industry criticizes the drug pricing plan Trump says he'll sign
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's plan to change the pricing model for some medications is already facing fierce criticism from the pharmaceutical industry before he's even signed the executive order set for Monday that, if implemented, could lower the cost of some drugs. Trump has promised that his plan — which is likely to tie the price of medications covered by Medicare and administered in a doctor's office to the lowest price paid by other countries — will significantly lower drug costs.
Free Malaysia Today
12-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Trump to sign order aimed at cutting US drug prices
US President Donald Trump announced a similar proposal to cut US drug prices during his first term. (AP pic) WASHINGTON : President Donald Trump unveiled plans today for a new policy on pharmaceuticals he claimed would reduce US prescription drug prices by between 30% and 80%. 'They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!' Trump wrote in a social media post, adding he planned to sign an executive order bringing the new policy into effect at 9am tomorrow. Trump said he planned to institute a 'MOST FAVORED NATION'S' policy that pinned the cost of drugs sold in the US to the lowest price paid by other countries for the same drug. The reduction in prescription drug costs in the US would, he added, be counterbalanced by higher costs in other countries. 'Most favoured nation' status is a World Trade Organization rule that aims to prevent discrimination between a country and its trading partners, levelling the playing field for international trade. The White House did not immediately respond to an AFP request for details of the plan. This is not the first time that Trump has attempted to lower US drug prices. During his first 2017-2021 term in office, he announced a similar proposal to cut US drug prices but his plans failed in the face of strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry. Last month, the US president signed an executive order aiming to lower crippling drug prices by giving states more leeway to bargain-hunt abroad and improving the process for price negotiations.
