Pelosi Seeks Prescription Drug Pricing Legislation Including Medicare Negotiation as House Report Notes Pharma Spent $577 Billion on Stock Buybacks and Dividends

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she will push for drug pricing legislation to be included in President Biden’s economic budget, claiming that such legislation will not impact innovation. She aims to empower Medicare to directly negotiate prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. She criticized pharma spending on stock buybacks and dividends as a report notes less investment was spent on research and development.

“The report found that 2016 to 2020, the 14 top drug companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends, according to the report. That is some $56 billion more than the amount spent on research and development, the report said. It estimates the savings from the drug price bill would equal less than half companies are expected to spend on buybacks and dividends over the next decade.” Read more here.

(Source: Erik Wasson, Bloomberg, 7/8/21)