WEBVTT - Learning to Love Big Pharma

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day on since

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Our main story. Big

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<v Speaker 1>Pharma hopes the race to treat COVID nineteen will help

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<v Speaker 1>give drug makers a brand new image and help you

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<v Speaker 1>forget about the price of drugs. But first, here's what

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<v Speaker 1>happened in virus news today. The worst is yet to come.

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<v Speaker 1>That's the message from World Health Organization head tadrus Adnam

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<v Speaker 1>Gabrie at a briefing in Geneva today, just about six

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<v Speaker 1>months after the w h O became aware of the virus.

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<v Speaker 1>He said some countries are having a resurgence of the outbreak.

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<v Speaker 1>The America's account for half of all deaths, and there

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<v Speaker 1>is no global solidarity around the disease. Tad said, quote

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<v Speaker 1>this virus can be suppressed and contained using the tools

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<v Speaker 1>at hand end quote, and countries shouldn't wait for a

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<v Speaker 1>vaccine to deal with it. He also said, quote if

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<v Speaker 1>any country is saying that contact tracing is difficult, it

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<v Speaker 1>is a lame excuse end quote. Worldwide deaths from the

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<v Speaker 1>virus surpassed five hundred thousand, and confirmed cases exceeded ten million.

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<v Speaker 1>In New York, officials are reconsidering a plan to allow

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<v Speaker 1>indoor dining beginning July six. Other states have blamed reopening

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<v Speaker 1>restaurants and bars for surge in COVID nineteen cases. Mayor

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<v Speaker 1>build a Blasio said the city and state will make

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<v Speaker 1>a decision within the next few days. As how officials

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<v Speaker 1>are increasingly concerned. One statistic is growing at an alarming

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<v Speaker 1>pace in some US hotspots, the rate of positive cases.

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<v Speaker 1>In Florida, thirteen point seven percent of people tested for

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<v Speaker 1>the virus came up positive on Monday, a jump of

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<v Speaker 1>over one percentage point from the previous day, and Texas

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen positive test rate searched to more than fourteen percent,

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<v Speaker 1>the highest yet for the state. And now for our

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<v Speaker 1>main story, Gilead Sciences announced today that it will charge

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<v Speaker 1>the US government and other developed countries three hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>ninety dollars per vile for its coronavirus fighting drug Remdessevere.

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<v Speaker 1>That begins to answer a big question as drug company's

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<v Speaker 1>race to find treatments and develop vaccines for the virus.

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<v Speaker 1>How much will it cost us? But drug companies in

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<v Speaker 1>the wake of the pandemic hope people will stop paying

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<v Speaker 1>so much attention to the cost of medicine. Riley, Griffin

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<v Speaker 1>and m a Court report that the pharmaceutical industry is

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<v Speaker 1>hoping COVID nineteen will give it a chance to rebrand

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<v Speaker 1>from price gougers to life savers. The drug industry is

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<v Speaker 1>disliked more than any other sector, including lawyers, the gas industry,

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<v Speaker 1>and the federal government, according to a Gallop poll that

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<v Speaker 1>boils down to one reason, drug pricing, which is increasingly

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<v Speaker 1>prompted outrage from politicians and patients. The US pays the

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<v Speaker 1>most for prescription medications of any country in the world,

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<v Speaker 1>in part because the government doesn't negotiate drug prices like

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<v Speaker 1>many others and the country's healthcare system is more fragmented.

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<v Speaker 1>But the pharmaceutical industry hopes that the COVID and King

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<v Speaker 1>crisis will turn around it's bad reputation. Here's Spencer Perlman,

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<v Speaker 1>director of healthcare research at the consultancy of Beta Partners,

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<v Speaker 1>who has long been covering the drug price debate. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of Americans are now changing their mind, at least

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<v Speaker 1>for right now, about how they view the pharmaceutical industry.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, the pharmaceutical industry was about as popular as

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<v Speaker 1>mass murders a few months ago, and they are you know,

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<v Speaker 1>their their popularity, if you will, has increased pretty substantially.

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<v Speaker 1>UM And I think a lot of that has to

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<v Speaker 1>do with the fact that, again, these are massive companies

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<v Speaker 1>that when they want to can develop miracles. May just

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<v Speaker 1>it's a fact that cutting edge science is what the

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<v Speaker 1>pharmaceutical industry would prefer to talk about. Case in point

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<v Speaker 1>Michelle McMurray Heath. She's the new leader of the Biotechnology

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<v Speaker 1>in Ovation Organization, a powerful trade group in Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>Michelle's background is in science and regulation rather than lobbying,

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<v Speaker 1>and she was initially reluctant to take the job. As

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<v Speaker 1>an m d, pH D, former U S regulator and

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<v Speaker 1>most recently VP at Johnson and Johnson. She's the perfect

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<v Speaker 1>representative of the new image Farmer wants to convey advocates

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<v Speaker 1>for good medicine rather than wielders of political power. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not a typical lobbyist. If that's what you're looking for

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<v Speaker 1>for this role, I think you have the wrong girl.

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<v Speaker 1>You know what I am is a person who understands

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<v Speaker 1>and believes in the power of science, and I'm a

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<v Speaker 1>committed and um engaged advocate for science. That's what I

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<v Speaker 1>bring to the role, and they looked to me and said, well, actually,

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<v Speaker 1>our entire search is about changing the national dialogue. Michelle

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<v Speaker 1>says she was convinced and saw the job as an

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<v Speaker 1>opportunity to advocate for cutting edge science that would fundamentally

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<v Speaker 1>change the lives of patients. Proposals aimed at reforming drug

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<v Speaker 1>pricing could endanger that innovative medicine. She says. The industry

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<v Speaker 1>has long made this argument, but it takes on a

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<v Speaker 1>particular resonance with the whole world betting that pharmaceutical companies

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<v Speaker 1>can get us out of this public health disaster. It's

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<v Speaker 1>been clear that in recent years there's been a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of public misunderstanding about what biotechnology has been attempting to

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<v Speaker 1>do for for the country, for human health, for the

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<v Speaker 1>food supply, for the environment. UM we are not among

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<v Speaker 1>the most trusted quarters of the culture, and if we

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<v Speaker 1>don't have a strong and vibrant biotechnology UM ecosystem, we

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<v Speaker 1>are not going to be prepared to combat this crisis,

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<v Speaker 1>or any of the crisis we are likely to face

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<v Speaker 1>in the coming years and decades. It is the critical

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<v Speaker 1>lover to move us forward, and I think that's becoming

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<v Speaker 1>clearer now than it has ever been. Now Michelle, the

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<v Speaker 1>Biotechnology Innovation Organization and its member companies are making this

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<v Speaker 1>pitch to the American public. Earlier this month, the organization

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<v Speaker 1>drew thousands to a digital conference that featured headliners like

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<v Speaker 1>Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and

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<v Speaker 1>Infectious Diseases, on a panel about how to win the

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<v Speaker 1>war on COVID through such drug development efforts. Meanwhile, Johnson

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<v Speaker 1>and Johnson has been streaming an eight part series on

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<v Speaker 1>its own road to a vaccine. The industry's largest trade organization,

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<v Speaker 1>the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, has even taken

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<v Speaker 1>out e v ads with a heavy handed tagline, science

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<v Speaker 1>is how we get back to normal. The pharmaceutical industries

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<v Speaker 1>villainous reputation wasn't built in a day. Criticism about high

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<v Speaker 1>US drug prices has mounted for decades. In recent years,

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<v Speaker 1>a series of crises paired with broader changes in US healthcare,

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<v Speaker 1>like greater exposure to high deductible health plans, kicked it

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<v Speaker 1>into high gear. Generic drugmaker Mylens years of price hikes

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<v Speaker 1>on allergic reaction treatment EpiPen exploded into an affordability crisis

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<v Speaker 1>as parents stocked up on them during back to school season.

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<v Speaker 1>More recently, individuals with diabetes have struggled to afford life

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<v Speaker 1>saving insulin, even though the drug has been around for

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<v Speaker 1>nearly a hundred years. The drug industry argues that what's

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<v Speaker 1>happening isn't their fault. Instead, they point a finger at

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<v Speaker 1>health and sures and other players in the supply chain,

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<v Speaker 1>like pharmacy middlemen. But advocate Margarita George, campaign director for

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<v Speaker 1>the Coalition Lower Drug Prices Now, says there are clear

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<v Speaker 1>lessons to take away from all this history. This is

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<v Speaker 1>an industry that we couldn't trust on insulin. We couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>trust them on EpiPens. We couldn't trust them on prep

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<v Speaker 1>true VADA or HIV medicines. We can't trust them on HEPC.

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<v Speaker 1>Why on earth would we think that we could trust

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<v Speaker 1>the prescription drug industry to create a vaccine that then

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<v Speaker 1>they would price at a fair rate that everybody could

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<v Speaker 1>get access to. The U S government has also poured

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<v Speaker 1>billions of dollars into pharmaceutical companies for the development and

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<v Speaker 1>manufacturing of new treatments and vaccines. That makes for even

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<v Speaker 1>thorn in your questions about how much COVID nineteen products

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<v Speaker 1>should cost, because it's not just company taking on the

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<v Speaker 1>financial risk of making new drugs, it's taxpayers too. The

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<v Speaker 1>first test came this week with Gillads Roum Desiviere. The

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<v Speaker 1>company came out with two price tags. It will charge

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<v Speaker 1>the US government and other developed countries about three nine

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<v Speaker 1>dollars of vile. Private US health insurers and other commercial payers, though,

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<v Speaker 1>will pay a higher price five dollars of vile. Guilliad

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<v Speaker 1>says most patients will need only five days of treatment,

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<v Speaker 1>putting the total price roughly in line with a cost

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<v Speaker 1>effectiveness threshold for the drug set by an independent nonprofit

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<v Speaker 1>called the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review that the

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<v Speaker 1>cost for commercial payers on a five day course will

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<v Speaker 1>run somewhat over. In a statement on Monday, Steve Pearson,

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<v Speaker 1>Iser's founder and president, said Gillad's price tag was quote

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<v Speaker 1>reasonably cost effective and end quote demonstrates restraint and a

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<v Speaker 1>promising precedent for future drug pricing during a pandemic end quote.

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<v Speaker 1>But he also said the conversation about ram Dezevier's price

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't over and should be reassessed as we learn about

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<v Speaker 1>how well the medicine works. The drug pricing debate continues

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<v Speaker 1>on in Washington, d C. Though many see today's public

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<v Speaker 1>health crisis stymying a bipartisan package geared at penalizing drug

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<v Speaker 1>makers for price hikes. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley,

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<v Speaker 1>a co sponsor of the bill, told us it's not

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<v Speaker 1>off the table, at least not yet. The Iowa Republican

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<v Speaker 1>is pushing for the policies to make it into the

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<v Speaker 1>next package of coronavirus relief. That was Riley Griffin and

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<v Speaker 1>Emma Court. Their story on Big Farmers Big Rebranding can

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<v Speaker 1>be read in the June issue of Bloomberg Business Week

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<v Speaker 1>or on Bloomberg dot com. And that's it for our show.

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<v Speaker 1>A reminder, starting this week, the Prognosis Update will be

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<v Speaker 1>coming to you on Monday's, Wednesdays and Friday's, so there

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<v Speaker 1>will be no show tomorrow. For coverage of the outbreak

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<v Speaker 1>from one and twenty bureaus around the world, visit Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>dot com Flash Coronavirus and if you like the show,

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<v Speaker 1>Podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help more

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<v Speaker 1>listeners find our global reporting. The Prognosis Daily edition is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tophor foreheads Jordan Gaspore, Magnus Hendrickson, and me

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<v Speaker 1>Laura Carlson. Today's main story was reported by Riley Griffin

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<v Speaker 1>and Emma Court. Original music by Leo Sigrin. Our editors

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<v Speaker 1>are Rick Shine and Francesca Levi. Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's

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<v Speaker 1>head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.