Apart From A Few ‘Sacrificial Lambs,’ Pharma Emerges From Trump’s Speech Largely Unscathed
President Donald Trump's long-anticipated speech on curbing drug prices focused on reducing inefficiencies in the current system, rather than taking swings at pharmaceutical companies. Trump had a few barbs for the industry, noting that “the drug lobby is making an absolute fortune at the expense of customers,” but the only proposal that specifically dealt with prescription drug pricing was a suggestion that a treatment’s cost be disclosed in its advertisements.
The New York Times:
Trump Promises Lower Drug Prices, But Drops Populist Solutions
President Trump vowed on Friday to “bring soaring drug prices back down to earth” by promoting competition among pharmaceutical companies, and he suggested that the government could require drugmakers to disclose prices in their ubiquitous television advertising. But he dropped the popular and populist proposals of his presidential campaign, opting not to have the federal government directly negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare. And he chose not to allow American consumers to import low-cost medicines from abroad. (Pear, 5/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump’s Plan To Cut Drug Prices Leaves Industry Relieved
In a blueprint released simultaneously, the administration proposed more modest changes to the way Medicare pays for costly drugs. The plan includes more than 50 initiatives, though many of them involve potential future actions rather than immediate changes. “I don’t want to overpromise that somehow on Monday there’s a radical change,” Mr. Azar said. “This is the possible restructuring of a major sector of the economy. One doesn’t do that lightly.” (Radnofsky, Armour and Walker, 5/11)
The Washington Post:
Trump Promises To ‘Derail The Gravy Train’ And Lower Drug Prices In ‘American Patients First’ Plan
In a major departure from his early and harsh criticism of pharmaceutical companies, Trump lashed into the entire supply chain that lies between drugmakers and patients, including health insurers, distributors and the little-known industry that negotiates drug prices. “We’re very much eliminating the middlemen. The middlemen became very, very rich, right?” Trump said. “Whoever those middlemen were — a lot of people never even figured it out — they’re rich. They won’t be so rich anymore.” Trump has criticized drug companies for having too much power and said Friday that the industry lobby “is making an absolute fortune at the expense of American consumers.” (Johnson, 5/11)
Stat:
Trump Administration's Drug Pricing Plan Sparse On Details
It’s unclear how the bevvy of proposals would work independently or together to actually save money for patients. The blueprint offers few specific details about how any of these ideas would be implemented, and barely commits the government to doing anything, often saying that the Department of Health and Human Services “may” take certain actions. (Swetlitz, Mershon and Facher, 5/11)
The New York Times:
6 Takeaways From Trump’s Plans To Try To Lower Drug Prices
As the health care world parsed the president’s newly released “blueprint” to lower drug prices, the overarching insight seemed to be this: The drug industry’s formidable lobbyists had won some key victories, even if they did not escape entirely unscathed. Many proposals were light on detail and will need action by Congress to become real. Yet Mr. Trump won some praise for having taken a stab at tackling such a complex and vitally important issue to many Americans. (Thomas, 5/11)
Stat:
Trump Vowed To Rein In Pharma. His Speech Sent Drug Stocks Soaring
The two largest indices for biotech and pharmaceutical companies rose about 2 percent after Trump’s speech, as investors saw little to fear for drug makers. The stock prices of Pfizer, Merck, Gilead Sciences, and Amgen all spiked after Trump’s speech. Wall Street analysts said the speech posed few threats to the drug industry on the whole. “There may be some one-off sacrificial lambs in there, but for the most part the focus is on reducing inefficiencies in the current system,” said Brian Skorney, an analyst at Baird. “These, in large part, aren’t benefiting the sector as a whole, so any success at reducing them is probably net neutral.” (Feuerstein and Garde, 5/11)
NPR:
Trump Speech Takes Broad Swipe At Prescription Drug Prices
Azar, in a briefing following the Rose Garden speech, acknowledged the plan is sweeping and would take years to implement. He said the administration will pursue those ideas it can get done. "This is a major restructuring of a huge portion of the U.S. economy. One doesn't do that lightly," he said. (Kodjak, 5/11)