A biopharmaceutical industry leader, asking that he not be
identified while the White House is formulating policy, acknowledged there are
no data to demonstrate that pro-pharma trade agreements impacted overall drug
pricing or hurt access. But he argued that countries that don’t agree to strong
intellectual property protections are more likely to be harmed because a
drug-maker might not launch its medicine in those nations.
Asked for comment, PhRMA pointed to its statement on the
recent U.S. trade report, which praised the administration for trying to create
a more level international playing field.
But critics note that companies have often rewarded shareholders,
not patients, when they get a policy perk from the government. After
the recent U.S. tax overhaul, major drug companies announced stock buybacks,
not lower drug prices, according to a report from the office of Sen. Cory
Booker (D-N.J.).
Meanwhile, Moon doesn’t think European policy makers would cave to
U.S. demands to pay more. She’s already heard concerns from the richest
countries in Europe, like Switzerland, Norway and Luxembourg.
Furthermore, Trump has lost clout in in the international arena by
trashing international trade deals and threatening withdrawal from trade
agreements.
Others say it’s too soon to dismiss Trump’s idea that pushing for
higher prices overseas will help the U.S. public. It could boost his clout with
the drug-makers at home.
“It’s certainly possible that pharmaceutical companies will pocket
the profits from higher overseas pharmaceutical prices to the benefit of
shareholders,” without lowering U.S prices, said Mark Wu, a trade expert at
Harvard Law School. “On the other hand, it could provide the administration
with some leverage to push pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices
domestically in return for these overseas gains and benefits from the new tax
plan.”
Sarah
Karlin-Smith reported from Washington, and Sarah Wheaton reported from
Brussels.
No comments:
Post a Comment