Patients For Affordable Drugs Responds to AstraZeneca’s Plan to Challenge March 1, 2024 Decision on Its Lawsuit to Stop Medicare Negotiation Program

WASHINGTON D.C. — The ongoing legal assault on Medicare negotiation continues as AstraZeneca has filed a notice to appeal a federal judge’s ruling against the company’s lawsuit to overturn the program. AstraZeneca’s blockbuster drug, Farxiga, is one of the first 10 drugs selected for the new drug price negotiation program established in the Inflation Reduction Act.  

This anticipated appeal — one of several cases filed against Medicare’s negotiating authority — represents the pharmaceutical industry’s continued efforts to restore its complete power to dictate prices of drugs over the well-being of patients and came the same day as a federal district court in New Jersey ruled against constitutional challenges brought by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Janssen. Yesterday’s ruling in those cases delivered a significant blow to Big Pharma by rejecting constitutional challenges that the Medicare negotiation program violates the Takings Clause and the First Amendment. 

Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs, issued the following statement: 

“This move by AstraZeneca disregards the urgent reality faced by millions of patients desperate for relief from abusive drug prices. Despite a judge rejecting the industry’s core constitutional claims just hours earlier, AstraZeneca has decided to double down on its efforts to go against the will of 4-out-of-5 Americans who overwhelmingly support the implementation of Medicare Negotiation. This decision only further cements the public’s understanding that AstraZeneca’s goal is to reestablish its pricing power at the expense of patients’ health and lives.”

“Make no mistake – this assault is not just on the 639,000 patients on Medicare who rely on Farxiga, but an attack on every patient’s ability to access the medicines they need without fearing financial hardship or harm to their health. Patients fought hard for these reforms and we will continue to fight to protect them against Big Pharma’s relentless attacks.”

Earlier this month, Patients For Affordable Drugs launched the ‘US v. Pharma’ campaign to rally patients, and allies to defend this hard-won reform against the industry’s deep-pocketed resistance.

BACKGROUND:

• Patients For Affordable Drugs Now has signed onto seven amicus briefs – including one in this case – led by Public Citizen and supported by Protect Our Care, Doctors for America, and Families USA to support the government’s opposition and explain the harm high drug prices have on people on Medicare. 
• Farxiga has generated over $19.3 billion in revenue and has seen a 54 percent increase in list price since it entered the market in 2014.
• Farxiga is priced at $11.05 per dose in the U.S., a staggering 275 percent markup compared to just $2.94 in Canada
• U.S. list prices for the first 10 drugs selected for Medicare negotiation are on average three times higher than in other high-income nations.
• Even after Medicare negotiation, the U.S. will continue to pay the highest drug prices and offer the largest market for drugs in the world. 
• On Feb. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent initial offers of a fair price for each of the 10 drugs. Negotiation will run through Aug. 1 and on Sept. 1, the maximum fair prices will be announced, according to CMS.
• In addition to yesterday’s developments in the courts, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the drug industry’s top trade association, alongside the Global Colon Cancer Association and the National Infusion Center Association, will have oral arguments heard in their appeal on Wednesday, May 1st.