Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. We can tell because the official mascots are racing madly about the Pharmalot grounds chasing creatures, and the parade of vehicles outside our window is starting to pick up. As for us, we are dutifully firing up the coffee kettle to brew another cup of needed stimulation. Our choice today is glazed doughnut. Please feel free to join us. Now, though, the time has come to get cracking. So here is the latest assembly line of items of interest for your enjoyment. We hope you find these useful and have a smashing day. Best of luck and, as always, do stay in touch. …
The Biden administration is making its opening offers to pharmaceutical companies in its brand-new Medicare drug price negotiation program on Thursday, but declined to disclose any details, STAT tells us. The offers will not be made public unless a manufacturer chooses to publicly disclose information about the talks, a senior administration official said. Companies have until March 2 to either accept the government’s offer or propose a counteroffer. The Biden administration will publish the final prices by Sept. 1 after the negotiation process ends. The negotiated prices will not take effect until 2026.
Meanwhile, a federal judge appeared skeptical of arguments made by lawyers for AstraZeneca, which is one of several drug companies trying to stop Medicare from negotiating prices, STAT explains. The lawyers argued that Medicare’s new powers amount to a taking of their property rights without due process. But Colm Connolly, chief judge of the U.S. District Court of Delaware, said he does not understand how the law deprives AstraZeneca of its property. He asked Catherine Stetson, who represents AstraZeneca, multiple times to explain what property the company would lose due to Medicare price negotiation. Stetson pointed to both the patent and the drug subject to the patent.