Several leaders of some of the largest pharmaceutical companies have met on Tuesday at the White House with the newly elected US president, Donald Trump to discuss industry related topics, agreeing that the talks were positive.
Pharmaceutical companies that were included in the meeting basically agreed that talks with the US president were positive. The talks included Vice President Pence and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden. In email sent to us, the companies commenting on the meeting said that topics covered improving global competitiveness and creating local jobs, as well as enhancing U.S. biopharmaceutical industry.
Fixing policies could create 350000 jobs in 10 years
Another thing agreed among the leaders of drugmakers is the need to reform the tax code, which would “spur investment and job creation” in the United States.
The US president said that he wishes to see simplification and enhancement of drug approvals. Commenting on the meeting, PhRMA CEO Stephen J. Ubl noted that that “outdated regulations drive up costs and slow innovation”.
“We believe if these policies are enacted, it will translate to up to 350,000 new jobs over the next 10 years as a result of growth in the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Ubl.
Enabling private sector to lead health care system
The PhRMA’s CEO said that the current system needs to evolve to enable the private sector to lead the move to a value-driven health care system. “To do this, we need to reform existing laws and regulations that are currently preventing private companies from negotiating better deals and paying for medicines based on the value they provide to patients and our health care system,” he said.
Merck praises Trum’s support for biomedical innovation in U.S.
A comment from Merck arrived from the media relations person, Lanie Keller, who said in an email: “We had a positive discussion with the president today. We’re encouraged that he supports the need for continued biomedical innovation in the United States, including the need to make our tax code more competitive.”
Eli Lilly shared their comment in an email pointing out the concerns that thee US President and others have raised about the affordability and accessibility of prescription medicines. “We expressed our commitment to working with the administration to advance market-based reforms.”
Lilly’s comment also included the call for reforming laws and regulations to enable private companies to pull off better deals. “Existing laws and regulations are currently preventing private companies from negotiating better deals and paying for medicines based on the value they provide to patients and our health care system.”
“We look forward to working with the new administration and Congress to advance solutions that promote economic growth and job creation and create a more competitive health care marketplace,”Lilly said in the email.
Novartis CEO Joseph Jimenez attended the meeting in his capacity as chairman-elect for PhRMA.
We’ve asked Novartis to comment, as a European company, on the US president Trump saying that European pharmaceutical companies were not fair to the US drugmakers, and the possibility to quicken drug approval process. In an email, the spokeperson from Novartis, Eric Althoff said that, “At this time it would be premature to speculate and can only refer you to the statement issued by PhRMA.”
Reuters wrote today about the meeting, quoting market strategist Quincy Crosby of Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey, as saying “Trump is a populist above all else, and having these (drug) prices skyrocket, he’s commented that under his administration, this is not going to happen.”
The agency reported her saying that Trump was playing a balancing act between controlling prices and loosening regulations.