If you saw the recent opinion piece published in The Washington Post from PhRMA
President and CEO Steve Ubl, you’ll have recognized the classic rerun of Big
Pharma’s deflection playbook, filled with empty promises and grand pledges
meant to deflect responsibility and dodge accountability for high prescription
drug prices.





 

October 6, 2025



TOPLINE



If you saw the recent opinion piece
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published in The Washington Post from PhRMA President and CEO Steve Ubl,
you’ll have recognized the classic rerun of Big Pharma’s deflection playbook,
filled with empty promises and grand pledges meant to deflect responsibility
and dodge accountability for high prescription drug prices.



PhRMA, of course, does not acknowledge rapidly rising launch prices being set
by brand name manufacturers on new products, years of egregious and unjustified
price hikes outpacing inflation, especially on blockbuster medications, or the
litany of anti-competitive tactics deployed by Big Pharma to undermine
competition from more affordable generics and biosimilars.



Instead, PhRMA falls back on its usual finger-pointing at others in the drug
supply chain, with claims about the industry’s commitment to the American
people they continue to price-gouge thrown in.



Delivering effective, lasting relief for American patients from out-of-control
prescription drug prices must hold Big Pharma accountable. Read moreHERE
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.



QUOTES OF THE WEEK



“We’re going to be tough on this…Drug companies spend 20 percent to 25 percent
of their budgets on marketing and ads. I’d like them to spend that money on
lowering drug prices for everyday Americans.”



U.S. Food & Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary
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DATA POINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW



$20.2 Billion



The amount of savings biosimilars generated in 2024 alone, according to a
recentreport <[link removed]>
from the Association for Accessible Medicines.



TWEETS OF THE WEEK



@IMAKglobal <[link removed]>: “Merck is
launching a patent-protected injectable version of Keytruda before biosimilars
of the IV version of Keytruda enter the market. The scheme, known as a “product
hop”, will effectively allow Merck to restart its patent monopoly on Keytruda
just as the 20-year monopoly on the IV version comes to an end. This is blatant
abuse of the U.S. patent system. Swipe to see reactions to the recent @nytimes
story on Merck's product hop.”



@Runaway_Rx <[link removed]>: “Noticed a
lot of #BigPharma ads recently? We’re guessing the answer is yes. 20–25% of Big
Pharma’s budget goes to annoying flashy marketing and ads, when instead they
could be lowering drug prices. Read more from @l_e_whyte and @AlyssaLukpat in
the @WSJ. #TheProblemIsThePrice
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”



ROAD TO RECOVERY



Law360: DC Circ. Won't Stop FDA From Approving Entresto Generic
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The D.C. Circuit on Friday shot down Novartis' attempt to block the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration's approval of a generic version of its most lucrative
drug, the heart disease medication Entresto. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. had
argued MSN Pharmaceuticals' product didn't meet the labeling requirements
needed to have a drug certified as a generic, but the D.C. Circuit disagreed in
a new opinion. MSN started selling its generic drug in August. Much of the
dispute revolves around so-called skinny labels, which is a generic drug label
that leaves off any indications of the reference drug that still have patent
protection. However, the drugs with carved-out labels must be just as effective
and safe.



PHARMA’S POOR PROGNOSIS



Inside Health Policy: AAM: U.S. Could Miss $234B In Savings If Competition
Barriers Remain
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A new report from the generic drug lobby warns consumers and patients could
lose $234 billion in total health care savings over the next 10 years unless
policymakers eradicate barriers to generic drug and biosimilar access, such as
outdated regulatory hurdles that slow the development and market entry, patent
practices commonly used by brand drug companies to delay to competition and
extend market monopolies, formulary practices that incentivize preferred
treatment for expensive brand drugs, and unintended consequences of Inflation
Reduction Act placed upon generic and biosimilar medicines.



Bloomberg: Pharma Is Pushing $200,000 Cancer Drugs When Cheaper Doses May Work
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Three hours inland from Chennai, India, traffic crawls on a half-finished road
past rice fields and cow crossings until it reaches a newer complex of neat
white buildings. Among them is the cancer wing of a hospital founded over a
century ago by American missionaries. By morning, the line of people waiting to
be seen at Christian Medical College Vellore’s Ranipet Campus snakes from the
parking lot to the front door. In a basement treatment room one day in May,
several of those who’ve made it inside sit in beds getting an intravenous drip
of a Bristol Myers Squibb Co. drug called Opdivo or a competing Merck & Co.
drug, Keytruda. A single infusion might cost at least $7,000 at the standard
dose in the US, and a year’s treatment more than $200,000. Here, by financial
necessity, most of the patients are getting as little as one-sixth of that.



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