Drug lobbyists PhRMA and BIO were reluctant to send representatives from their member companies, many of them billionaire manufacturers of the world’s best-selling drugs and vaccines, after conflicting reports last week about whether the White House would include the rule and little information. To date on what the new rule would look like, three people familiar with the discussions said.
Several pharmaceutical companies believed that the most-favored-nation government had been abandoned before Friday’s announcement late afternoon. The hours leading up to Trump’s drug pricing event were round-trip “chaos” that even left some of his health officials shocked, sources told POLITICO on Friday.
BIO, the lobby representing many small biotech companies developing therapies, has said the most-favored-nations rule would be the toughest for its members. Many make the type of drugs administered by a doctor, such as expensive cancer and arthritis infusions, that would be affected.
“There are ongoing discussions to determine the best way to work with management on this issue in the coming weeks,” said an industry source.
“The White House has been more than accommodating in attempts to schedule this meeting,” said a White House official in the background.
A PhRMA spokesperson painted the White House talks as a distraction. “The President’s plan to import policies from socialized health systems abroad is disrupting our work [on Covid-19 therapies] and divert our focus from those life-saving efforts, “the spokesperson said.” We remain willing to discuss ways to reduce costs for patients at the pharmacy counter. However, we remain firmly opposed to policies that would allow foreign governments to set drug prices in the United States. “
Inside Health Policy first reported that the meeting was canceled. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government of the favored nations has irritated conservative groups along with industry and patient organizations. The president left the door open to alternative options on Friday, saying that if drug manufacturers can come up with a better plan, “we may not need to implement the fourth executive order, a very difficult order.”
Susannah Luthi and David Lim contributed to this report.
