On Thursday, Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, said pharmaceutical companies will possibly file legal actions against Medicare drug price negotiations, whose goal is to reduce prices for seniors but will almost certainly lower the company’s profits.
“I think that there will be legal action, but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to stop anything before 2026 or not,” Bourla said during an online interview with Reuters.
Bourla mentioned a provision in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act that will authorize the Medicare program to work out costs on the pricey prescription drugs every year.
The first round of discussions will begin in September, with new rates going into effect in 2026.
He stated the most “certain way” would be to call on Congress to introduce a constitution that would modify the federal government’s plan. But Bourla stated he is “not optimistic” in this regard.
Democrats control the Senate, and President Joe Biden might almost certainly veto any such legislation.
According to industry sources, some drugmakers are already getting ready to wage war against Medicare drug negotiations.
Bourla stated the plan was “negotiation with a gun to your head.”
He debated whether it would lower pharmaceutical profits and push thousands of firms to scale back on creating new life-saving drugs.
“They will be very careful where and how much they invest in research,” he said.
Bourla called it “unfortunate” that the government approved a law that “creates a lot of disincentives” for the industry, even after viewing the important role companies played during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bourla said, “We’re coming out of a global health crisis that became a financial crisis as a result of COVID. But the only reason why we are here today was because we had a thriving life sciences industry. They did the tests, the vaccines, the treatments, you name it.”
Pfizer and its competitor, Moderna, are the top developers of COVID vaccines.
Regardless of his criticism, Bourla agreed that the law had certain benefits for patients, such as decreased out-of-pocket expenditures for medications.
Another section of the Inflation Reduction Act mandates Pfizer and other prescription medication firms to reimburse Medicare if their medicine costs climb faster than the rate of inflation.
Five Pfizer medications are among the first 27 Part B prescription pharmaceuticals to be subject to Medicare inflation rebates beginning April 1, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
