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President Donald Trump didn’t point out Novartis or different drugmakers by identify final yr when he stated the trade is “getting away with murder.”
Yet executives on the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical big shelled out $1.2 million to Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to “advise” its executives on well being coverage and what was occurring within the Trump White House.
Novartis paid extra money to Cohen than did any of his shoppers revealed so far.
The firm stated it shortly decided he was unable to ship the assistance however paid the total quantity owed in his contract. “We made a mistake” in hiring him, CEO Vasant Narasimhan told Novartis employees on Thursday.
Hiring the president’s private legal professional matches a historical past of aggressively courting authorities officers by an organization with a lot to lose within the debate over excessive drug costs.
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Novartis has 9 blockbuster medicine producing round $1 billion or extra in annual gross sales and priced so excessive in some instances that sufferers have hassle affording them even with insurance coverage. Another 9 medicine produce greater than $500 million in gross sales.
High prices and copayments for Novartis’ Gleevec, which treats a type of leukemia, are related to sufferers delaying or skipping doses, stated researcher Stacie Dusetzina of Vanderbilt University.
Gleevec typically should be taken for all times and prices $148,000 a yr — thrice greater than when it got here out, based on Connecture, which offers know-how to assist individuals lower your expenses on prescriptions.
Novartis additionally makes medicine for psoriasis and a number of sclerosis that value greater than $100,000 a yr. The price ticket for Kymriah, a Novartis leukemia therapy accepted final yr, is $475,000.
The firm earned $7.7 billion in income final yr on worldwide gross sales of $49 billion.
Novartis’ political motion committee has been a large contributor on Capitol Hill, donating $204,500 final yr to candidates for federal workplace and different political causes.
The firm spent $8.8 million lobbying U.S. lawmakers in 2017, its highest quantity ever, based on the Center for Responsive Politics. That doesn’t depend the beforehand undisclosed funds to Cohen, which the corporate stated had been for consulting, not lobbying.
One challenge that particularly pursuits the corporate: the importation of medication from Canada and different nations, which might undercut its excessive U.S. costs and badly harm income. Novartis sells its medicine for a fraction of U.S. costs in different developed nations. In 2015, Gleevec offered for $38,000 a year in Canada whereas a generic model of the identical drug offered for under $Eight,800.
Importation was certainly one of Novartis’ most lobbied issues final yr.
Just a few of Novartis’ blockbusters:
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KHN’s protection of prescription drug growth, prices and pricing is supported by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Jay Hancock: [email protected]”>[email protected], @JayHancock1
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