Tag Archives: 2019

Drug companies greet 2019 with U.S. price hikes

FILE PHOTO: A person holds pharmaceutical tablets and capsules in this picture illustration taken in Ljubljana September 18, 2013. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

By Michael Erman

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Drugmakers kicked off 2019 with price increases in the United States on more than 250 prescription drugs, including the world’s top-selling medicine, Humira, although the pace of price hikes was slower than last year.

The industry has been under pressure by the U.S. President Donald Trump to hold their prices level as his administration works on plans aimed at lowering the costs of medications for consumers in the world’s most expensive pharmaceutical market.

During a White House meeting with members of his Cabinet, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he expected to see a tremendous decrease in drug prices. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar was at the meeting.

The overall number of price increases was down by around a third from last year, when drugmakers raised prices on more than 400 medicines, according to data provided by Rx Savings Solutions, which helps health plans and employers seek lower cost prescription medicines.

Allergan Plc was particularly aggressive. It raised list prices on more than 50 drugs, and more than half of those by 9.5 percent, according to the Rx Savings data

AbbVie Inc increased by 6.2 percent the list price of its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira, which is on pace to record about $20 billion in sales in 2018.

Allergan said in a statement that its average list price increase across its portfolio is around 3.8 percent this year. It said it does not expect to realize any net benefit from the increases this year because of higher rebates and discounts it expects to make to payers.

AbbVie did not immediately respond to request for comment.

More price increases are expected this month. Reuters reported late last year that nearly 30 drugmakers had notified California agencies they plan to raise list prices of their drugs. Not all of those increases have been announced yet.

The United States, which leaves drug pricing to market competition, has higher prices than in other countries where governments directly or indirectly control the costs, making it the world’s most lucrative market for manufacturers.

HHS has proposed policy changes aimed at lowering drug prices and passing more of the discounts negotiated by health insurers on to patients. Those measures are not expected to provide relief to consumers in the short-term, however, and fall short of giving government health agencies direct authority to negotiate or regulate drug prices.

“It’s business as usual” for drugmakers, said Rx Savings Solutions Chief Executive Michael Rea, who said he believes there has to be meaningful changes to the marketplace, rather than new regulations in order for drug prices to drop.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; additional reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Explainer: Brexit basics – What is Brexit and why does it matter?

FILE PHOTO: A bus with a pro-Brexit message passes an anti-Brexit demonstrator outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, December 10, 2018. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) – The United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. The date is set in law – the 2018 Withdrawal Act – but the divorce has been plunged into chaos.

Below is an explainer of the Brexit basics:

BREXIT?

A blending of “Britain” and “exit,” it is the description of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. The word was coined by former lawyer Peter Wilding four years before the vote took place.

The EU, initially an attempt to tie Germany and France together and prevent another major European war, is now a group of 28 countries which trade and allow their citizens to move between the countries to live and work.

In the June 23, 2016 referendum, 17.4 million voters, or 52 percent, backed leaving while 16.1 million, or 48 percent, backed staying in the bloc.

The campaign was among the most divisive waged in Britain with accusations of lying and scare-mongering on both sides.

Supporters of remaining in the EU were accused of exaggerating threats to the economy. The pro-Brexit camp was accused of misleading voters about how much extra money could be spent on healthcare and stoking fears about immigration.

A week before the vote, a pro-EU member of parliament died after being stabbed and shot in the street.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Pro-Europeans fear Britain’s exit will weaken the West as it grapples with Donald Trump’s unpredictable U.S. presidency and growing assertiveness from Russia and China. It weakens Europe’s economy and removes one of its only two nuclear powers.

A disorderly Brexit would hammer the United Kingdom’s economy, the world’s fifth largest, and could disrupt trade in Europe and beyond. The shock of a chaotic Brexit would roil financial markets.

Brexit supporters say while there may be some short-term disruption, in the long-term the UK will thrive outside what they cast as a doomed experiment in German-dominated unity and excessive debt-funded welfare spending.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

The vote to leave the EU followed decades of discussion about how close the United Kingdom should be to the bloc.

Britain refused to join the forerunner to the EU, the European Economic Community when it was founded in 1957. When it did decide to join, its attempts were vetoed twice by France.

The UK became a member in 1973, only to have a crisis of confidence that led to an exit referendum two years later. Britons voted 67 to 33 percent to stay in the club in 1975.

But opposition, which partly reflected an ambivalence grounded in Britain’s imperial past, stiffened as European leaders sought greater economic and political integration. Britain never joined Europe’s currency, the euro, or participated in the EU’s Schengen Area open-borders agreement.

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher threatened to halt payments to the EU unless Britain got a refund. But her opposition to greater European integration led to her being ousted in a party coup.

In an attempt to end splits in his Conservative Party, the former Prime Minister David Cameron held the 2016 “in-out” referendum.

WHO ARE BREXITEERS?

Supporters of Brexit. They say leaving will give the United Kingdom back control over its own destiny and allow it to exploit global economic opportunities beyond Europe.

They argue the United Kingdom will save billions of pounds in membership fees, regain control of its economic policies and regulations and the right to restrict immigration from countries in the EU.

WHO ARE REMAINERS?

Opponents of Brexit. They say leaving will hammer the British economy and diminish the United Kingdom’s global clout.

As a bloc, the EU is Britain’s most important trading partner and its greatest source of foreign direct investment. Remainers say an exit will disrupt trade and dislocate supply chains in Europe and beyond.

SO WHY THE CHAOS?

After months of negotiation, British Prime Minister Theresa May reached agreement on the terms of Britain’s departure with EU leaders. But her plan to accept EU customs rules on goods while ending free movement of people has drawn criticism from both pro-Brexit and pro-EU lawmakers, the Northern Irish DUP party, which props up her minority government, and members of the opposition.

May says the choice before parliament is her deal, no deal or no Brexit.

CAN BREXIT BE STOPPED?

The lack of support in parliament for May’s divorce deal has stirred interest in the possibility that Britain may hold a second vote on whether to stay or leave.

May has ruled out a second referendum. The main opposition Labour Party is also skeptical, fearing another vote would divide supporters.

If Parliament did agree to hold another referendum, Britain would have to ask for an extension to the timetable for leaving the EU to allow enough time to hold the vote.

(Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Janet Lawrence)