Drug Companies Reaped “Billions” From GOP Tax Law – And Failed To Provide Relief to Patients Who Can’t Afford Their Medications

Axios: “When billions of dollars became available to the biggest drug companies, their main priority was to juice earnings, along with the paydays of their executives and investors — not investments in new treatments or relief for patients who can’t afford their drugs”

A new report from Axios explains how the biggest drug companies reaped “billions of dollars” from the Republican tax law — and their top priority in the first year the law went into full effect (2018) was a massive stock buyback spree to enrich corporate CEOs and wealthy shareholders. Not on the priority list? Lowering the cost of life-saving medications for millions of Americans.

Senate Republicans continue to block a plan to slash the price of prescription drugs that passed the House last year with bipartisan support. Mitch McConnell “has flatly refused to consider” H.R. 3, despite the fact that it could lower costs on everything from insulin to breakthrough cancer treatments. Senate Republicans are standing in the way because their donors oppose provisions to negotiate prices on drugs like insulin, which has tripled in cost in the last decade, leading some patients to resort to “lethal rationing.”

“While millions of Americans across the country are suffering due to skyrocketing prescription drug prices, Senate Republicans prioritized giving out billions in new tax breaks to the biggest drug companies over lowering the cost of prescription drugs,” said DSCC spokesperson Helen Kalla. “As those giant pharmaceutical companies continue to juice the paydays of their wealthy CEOs and shareholders while failing to provide relief for patients, Mitch McConnell and vulnerable Republicans can’t defend blocking prescription drug reform to help their donors at the expense of millions of Americans struggling to afford life-saving medicine.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Axios Vitals: 1 big thing: Pharma is on a stock buyback spree

In 2018, the year the Republican tax law went into full effect, 12 of the largest pharmaceutical companies spent more money buying back their stock than they spent on drug research and development, Axios’ Bob Herman reports.

The big picture: When billions of dollars became available to the biggest drug companies, their main priority was to juice earnings, along with the paydays of their executives and investors — not investments in new treatments or relief for patients who can’t afford their drugs.

By the numbers: Axios analyzed the stock buybacks and R&D expenses of the 12 largest American pharmaceutical companies, by revenue, between 2016 and 2019.

• These companies repurchased $69.1 billion of their stock in 2018, while spending $65.9 billion on researching new medicines.
  
• Over the entire four-year period, stock buybacks for these 12 companies totaled $183 billion, and research expenses were $251 billion. They’re sitting on another $47 billion that has been earmarked for stock buybacks.
  
• Two drugmakers — Amgen and Biogen — spent more on stock buybacks for the entire period than they spent on R&D. Amgen’s stock repurchases ($31.6 billion) were more than twice as much as research ($15.3 billion).

Read the full story here.

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