Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. The sun is peeking through clouds hovering above the Pharmalot campus, birds are chirping in nearby pin oaks and the official mascot is bounding about the grounds with a playmate. As for us, we are brewing the usual cups of stimulation — our choice today is chocolate cappuccino — as we brace ourselves for tackling the growing to-do list. No doubt, you can relate. So time to get cracking. Once again, we have compiled a menu of tidbits to help you on your journey, which we hope will bring to you a pleasant destination by the time today is over. And of course, do keep in touch. We enjoy hearing your secrets …
Some of the world’s biggest drugmakers are laying legal groundwork to fight the U.S. plan to negotiate drug prices for its Medicare health coverage, including the argument that a ban against speaking about these talks violates constitutional rights, Reuters reports. The Biden administration’s drug pricing reform, part of the Inflation Reduction Act, aims to save $25 billion through price negotiations by 2031 for Americans who pay more for medicines than any other country. But the pharmaceutical industry says the law, passed last year, will result in a loss of profits that will force them to pull back on developing groundbreaking new treatments.
A U.S. Senate hearing on Wednesday that will examine high costs for insulin “is not the end” of plans by Sen. Bernie Sanders for drug pricing interrogations, but it will be a show, STAT tells us. The Vermont Independent is bringing executives from Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, along with pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts, OptumRx, and CVS Health, to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Just a day later, the senator will reconvene to mark up a bipartisan package of PBM reforms and debate a slew of amendments that derailed an attempt last week at considering the legislation.
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