BIG PHARMA WATCH: BIG PHARMA SPENT $8.1 BILLION ON ADS PUSHING HIGH-PRICED BRAND NAME PRESCRIPTION DRUGS IN 2022

Big Pharma Spending Binge Underscores Bipartisan Support for List Price Transparency in Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

In case you missed it, on Monday, a new report in Fierce Pharma found Big Pharma spent nearly $8.1 billion on direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising pushing brand name prescription drugs in 2022.

Top spenders on high-priced brand name products include:

• Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent: $491 million
• AbbVie’s Rinvoq: $425.9 million
• Takeda’s Entyvio: $370.6 million
• AbbVie’s Skyrizi: $228.9 million
• Biohaven and Pfizer’s Nurtec ODT: $185.6 million

The report notes that Big Pharma’s DTC spending remains largely in line with the total for the previous year, highlighting how the pharmaceutical industry continues to execute a business-as-usual approach to boosting profits by blocking competition from more affordable alternatives.

Spending huge sums on DTC advertising so patients ask their providers for a brand name product, or never learn a generic or biosimilar version exists, is just one of many ways Big Pharma works to undermine competition in the pharmaceutical market — and boost sales of their high-priced, blockbuster products.

The bipartisan Drug-price Transparency for Consumers (DTC) Act would help patients, providers and the public see the prices Big Pharma sets on their products and provide a disincentive to set egregious prices. This market-based solution to boost list price transparency would provide useful information for patients as they engage in discussions with their providers about the best treatment options for their individual health care needs. Requiring Big Pharma to disclose list prices to the public in DTC advertising would also help serve as a deterrent to their continued price-gouging.

Read the full report in Fierce Pharma HERE.

Read more on how Big Pharma invests in advertising and profits over R&D HERE.

Learn more about market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower prescription drug prices HERE.