Like Big Tobacco, drug companies get little love on Capitol Hill. In a deeply divided America, the need to tackle soaring drug prices is one of the few issues that unites both Republican and Democrat voters. For good reason. The US spent a record $378bn on prescription drugs in 2021.
The Biden administration wants to tame the health cost beast with price controls. It on Tuesday announced a list of 10 prescription drugs subject to Medicare price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The drugs on the list cost Medicare more than $50bn in the 12 months to May 31, said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They include Eliquis, a blood thinner produced by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and its partner Pfizer, the diabetes treatment Jardiance sold by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly, and Xarelto, another blood clot prevention medicine from Bayer and the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals.