DOSE OF REALITY: Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part VII

In advance of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hearing on February 26, 2019, the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) is releasing a blog series on what lawmakers can expect to hear from the seven pharma executives who will attend — and why their rhetoric rings hollow when measured against their companies’ track record.

We’re taking a look at the unkept pledges, proclamations and promises made by Big Pharma that lawmakers should be prepared to confront with a “dose of reality.”

On Friday, we examined the record of Pfizer compared to the assertions of CEO Albert Bourla.

Today, we will look at the rhetoric of Sanofi CEO Olivier Brandicourt compared to his company’s track record.

SANOFI CEO OLIVIER BRANDICOURT:

Olivier’s Overtures:

• “We Want Everyone – Including Patients, Providers, Payers, PBMs, Policy Makers, Regulators And Our Shareholders – To Understand Why We Set Prices As We Do, And To Reaffirm To Them Our Commitment To The Principles Of Access, Affordability And Innovation.” (Olivier Brandicourt, “Sanofi Pricing Principles For The U.S.,” Sanofi, Accessed 1/17/19)
• “We Continue To Believe Our Industry Has A Key Role To Play In Delivering Better Outcomes For Patients With Innovative Medicines That Are Cost-Effective For The Overall System.” (Olivier Brandicourt, “Sanofi Pricing Principles For The U.S.,” Sanofi, Accessed 1/17/19)
• Sanofi Said It Would Limit Its Price Increases To Medical Inflation And Would Provide “Information Publicly To Demonstrate The Rationale” Of Increases Above The Rate Of Medical Inflation. (Olivier Brandicourt, “Sanofi Pricing Principles For The U.S.,” Sanofi, Accessed 1/17/19)

HARD MEDICINE: 

• Since 2012, Sanofi Has Hiked The Price Of Best Selling Insulin, Lantus By 114%. (“Overpatented, Overpriced: Lantus,” I-MAK, Accessed 2/7/19)
• “… Sanofi’s Popular Insulin Brand Lantus Was $35 A Vial When It Was Introduced In 2001; It’s Now $270,” A 671% Increase. (Tiffany Stanley, “Life, Death And Insulin,” The Washington Post, 1/7/19)
• According To The Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge (I-MAK), “Lantus Is … Highly Overpatented” For The Purpose Of Being Able To “Preserve And Extend Its Ability To Keep Competition At Bay While Hiking Prices.” “Lantus is also highly overpatented.  Though Sanofi’s primary patents on Lantus expired in 2015, the company has filed 70 secondary patent applications in the U.S. – 95 percent of its total – since the drug was first approved and put on the market in 2000.  If granted, these additional patents would give Sanofi monopoly protection for up to 37 more years – almost double the duration provided under U.S. law.  Why would a pharmaceutical company file so many patents after a drug is already on the market?  Quite simply to preserve and extend its ability to keep competition at bay while hiking prices.” (Tahir Amin, “Patent Abuse Is Driving Up Drug Prices. Just Look At Lantus,” STAT, 12/7/18)

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part I.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part II.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part III.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part IV.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part V.

CLICK HERE to read Big Pharma’s True Track Record Is A Hard Pill To Swallow: Part VI.