Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Biden’s drug-pricing proposal

There’s a fundamental difference between the US and other countries when it comes to “negotiating” drug prices. With other countries, drug companies can refuse to offer a product if the price is unduly low—e.g. BMY recently did this in Germany with Opdualag (#msg-171384812).

However, for many drugs Medicare is too big a portion of the market for drug companies to sit out. Hence, for all practical purposes Biden’s plan is tantamount to having Medicare set the US prices for qualifying drugs.

The 5-year timeline discussed in #msg-171420963 is probably the most injurious part of Biden’s proposal for the drug/biotech industry, but it’s not the only part that’s troublesome.