- The pharmaceutical industry’s largest trade group has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Biden’s drug-price negotiation law, the latest legal test of a program that could cost drugmakers billions of dollars over the next decade. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) alleged in the complaint that the law violates the separation of powers between Congress and the executive branch, protections of due process and the Constitution’s ban on excessive fines. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in a federal district court in Austin, Texas, ratchets up industry’s efforts to rework a law that marks the U.S. government’s strongest attempt to date to curb high drug costs. It comes as the federal government prepares to detail how it will conduct price negotiations and name the first set of drugs it will target. (Articles here, here, and here)
- An advisory committee to the CDC decided Wednesday that newly approved RSV vaccines should be given to all adults ages 65 and over. Pfizer’s and GSK’s shots are the only RSV vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but neither is publicly available yet. The FDA approved each shot for adults ages 60 and up last month, but as with any new vaccine, the CDC must recommend the shots before they can be distributed or administered. Following Wednesday’s vote, the final step is for the CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, to formally endorse the vaccines, which she is expected to do soon. (Article here)
June 22, 2023
Life Sciences | Tea Leaves