Democrats in the US House of Representatives began what they said would be a wide-ranging investigation into how the US pharmaceutical industry sets prices, moving quickly on an issue where there appears to be accord with the White House.
The US House Committee on Oversight and Reform asked for detailed information about pricing practices from a dozen companies on specific medications, including bestsellers such as AbbVie Inc’s Humira and Amgen Inc’s Enbrel, which are used to treat autoimmune diseases; Pfizer Inc’s pain drug Lyrica; and Sanofi SA’s diabetes treatment Lantus.
Also under scrutiny are medications available in generic formulations, including AstraZeneca PLC’s cholesterol medicine Crestor and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd’s multiple sclerosis treatment Copaxone.
“For years, drug companies have been aggressively increasing prices on existing drugs and setting higher launch prices for new drugs while recording windfall profits,” committee chairman Elijah Cummings said. “The goals of this investigation are to determine why drug companies are increasing prices so dramatically, how drug companies are using the proceeds and what steps can be taken to reduce prescription drug prices.”
Drug manufacturers have been under increasing pressure over the cost of their medications. In the past week, US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have proposed legislation to rein in drug prices.
The pressure has not yet curtailed soaring costs, as drug companies have in the past few weeks boosted US list prices on hundreds of treatments.
Pharmaceutical companies have defended their practices by saying the cost of developing new therapies is high. Some drugmakers have promised to try to increase transparency around drug costs by posting more information about their pricing practices online, among other measures.
The desire to contain high prescription drug costs is a rare area of partisan agreement in Washington.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar last week tweeted that “prices must come down,” praising Merck & Co, Gilead Sciences Inc and Amgen for lower prices.
Neither Merck nor Gilead were sent letters by the committee, according to a list posted on the panel’s Web site.
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