Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, acting on her pledge to curb what she has called outrageous drug costs, outlined a set of proposals to crack down on “unjustified” increases on prices for older treatments.
Advertisement
The team, according to Clinton’s plan, will “monitor price increases” and have the authority to intervene in the drug market by “supporting alternative manufacturers that enter the market and increase competition, to bring down prices and spur innovation in new treatments”.
In cases where there is a price spike and a lack of competition for a lifesaving treatment that has always been on the market, Hillary’s plan will enable the ability to fine or increase rebates from drug companies who are excessively raising prices.
As backlash against the company’s EpiPen price hike continues to unravel, it remains somewhat hard to answer a very simple question: why did they do it?
Mylan is the latest in a string of pharmaceutical companies drawing scrutiny over steep price increases, with drug executive Martin Shkreli and representatives from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. called before Congress this year. She said Mylan reintroduced the drug in January at what had become the “current market price”.
Although Mylan Pharmaceuticals announced that it would release a generic version of the EpiPen at a price of $300, Ayotte wrote, the action appears to have only come as a result of public outcry. The company also said that most of its customers are insured and that there has been a 0 coupon doctors give patients to reduce the cost of their co-payment, so that the payments aren’t so high. None is likely to hit the USA market until well into next year. The company has said that the price increase is due to costs to produce the product and blamed the healthcare system as a whole for the rising prices.
Mylan has a virtual monopoly on the sale of this injector and, since a new incentive plan was introduced for its directors, the price of the EpiPen has skyrocketed from under $400 to more than $600.
Clinton also suggests a potential fine for drug companies who are found to have unjustly risen costs. Meeting that goal would require 16% compound annual earnings growth-a tall order for a company that generated nearly 90% of its revenue from the generally mature generic-drug business.
Between 2008 and 2015, drugmakers increased the prices of almost 400 generic drugs by over 1,000 percent, according to a recent study.
The company’s stock was down more than 4% Friday shortly after Sen.
Advertisement
The former secretary of state said the funds collected from the penalties would be used to “increase competition and access” by allowing for the direct purchase of drugs, comparing the move to the Vaccines for Children program she spearheaded in the ’90s.
