Azar Sees Drug Price Progress

HHS secretary Alex Azar says there have been “positive developments in drug pricing behavior” since President Donald Trump released a 5/2018 drug pricing blueprint. “From the release of the president’s blueprint … through the end of 2018, drug companies took 57% fewer price increases on brand drugs compared with the same period in 2017,” Azar told the 1/15 Price of Good Health Summit.

He said companies such as Amgen, Merck, and Gilead have cut the list price on certain drugs and said that early data suggest that 2019 price increases have been smaller and fewer in number than those seen in 2018. But, Azar declared, “drug companies have a lot further to go. In fact, some manufacturers are still in denial about whether bringing down list prices is even an important goal. They claim that these skyrocketing prices don’t matter. But these prices do matter to patients, and our programs, in a number of important ways.”

The secretary praised FDA for approving a record number of generic drugs in FY 2018 and said that generic approvals during the Trump administration have already saved consumers $26 billion. And he noted the agency’s approval of 12 biosimilars and steps being taken to reduce confusion about biosimilars.

“One area of concern,” Azar said, “is instances where just a single manufacturer is producing an off-patent drug. In some notorious cases, manufacturers have used this power to take dramatic price hikes. That’s why we have FDA looking at how safe importation of drugs from abroad could help inject competition to address or prevent these price spikes, while not impairing intellectual property rights.”

Azar concluded with an invitation to all stakeholders to present their ideas for reducing drug prices. “We are open to any ideas that preserve drug safety and keep the patient at the center,” he declared. “Nothing that meets that standard is off the table until prices come down.”