I used Mark Cuban's new pharmacy company to order my medicine, and the prescription was a little cheaper. Here's how it worked.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11897118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pfizer" source="Orion">Pfizer</keyword> could have helped low-income countries better distribute <keyword id="11893994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19" source="Orion">COVID-19</keyword> vaccines, the CEO said.</li><li>CEO <keyword id="6924082" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="albert-bourla" source="Orion">Albert Bourla</keyword> said he should have helped improve vaccine-distribution infrastructure.</li></ul>Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla acknowledged the pharmaceutical giant could have worked better to ensure low-income countries got enough COVID-19 vaccines.Bourla said low-income countries have asked Pfizer to stop sending additional doses because they "cannot process them," or the countries <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jen-psaki-says-south-africa-turned-down-us-offer-of-more-vaccine-doses-2021-11">lack infrastructure</a> to distribute many shots at once. In retrospect, Bourla said he would have worked with governments and nonprofits in low-income countries well in advance to ensure they had the infrastructure to distribute doses. "We are using drones to drop vaccine supplies in remote areas," Bourla said during the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council Summit on Tuesday. "We should have done it better, many other organizations should have done it better."Though more than half of the world's population has received at least one dose of a <keyword id="11896806" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19-vaccine" source="Orion">COVID-19 vaccine</keyword>, just 6.3% of people in low-income countries have received a shot, according to <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations">Our World in Data</a>, a research project from Oxford University.As poor nations lack vaccines, some rich countries are scrambling to get rid of their surplus. This summer, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rich-countries-excess-vaccines-scramble-get-rid-expire-2021-7">Israel was on the cusp of throwing away</a> hundreds of thousands of doses set to expire before donating them to South Korea. The World Health Organization is asking wealthier nations to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-warn-stop-hoard-vaccine-3rd-dose-some-countries-none-2021-7">prioritize sending vaccines to other nations</a> instead of bolstering booster shot campaigns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended all US adults get <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cdc-over-50-get-boosters-now-younger-adults-decide-2021-11">a COVID-19 booster</a> once eligible. Bourla touted Pfizer's decision to sell vaccines at a higher price to rich countries and at low or no cost to less wealthy ones. The company, he added, ramped up manufacturing to ensure they could produce vaccines <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-will-meet-covid-vaccine-dose-goal-early-ceo-said-2021-4">quicker than they had predicted</a>.Bourla said vaccinating the global population will inhibit the virus from mutating into variants, and help society return to a relatively normal life. "Once we get people vaccinated, once we get the politics out of the equation...we can live normal lives," he told the WSJ's Jamie Heller.<a href="https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2020/05/28/who-voluntary-pool-patents-pfizer/">Pfizer</a>, along with other major pharmaceutical companies, has opposed a ruling that would remove protections on the company's intellectual property of the COVID-19 vaccine.Former world leaders, including 100 Nobel laureates, penned a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-world-leaders-urge-biden-suspend-covid-19-vaccine-patents-2021-4">suspend vaccine patents</a>. The move would enable manufacturers in poorer nations to make Pfizer or Moderna's vaccine without fear of reprisal.

Pfizer should have helped low-income countries better distribute COVID-19 vaccines, CEO said

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Claims of mismanagement and greed in the pharmaceutical industry may have contributed to <keyword id="11939294" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vaccine-hesitancy" source="Orion">vaccine hesitancy</keyword>.</li><li>Of Americans who said they would "definitely not" get a <keyword id="11896806" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19-vaccine" source="Orion">COVID-19 vaccine</keyword>, 20% say they trust drug companies, according to KFF.</li></ul>Ten months after the world's first COVID-19 vaccine received an emergency green light for use, the US is still reeling from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/unvaccinated-people-much-more-likely-to-die-cdc-data-2021-9">COVID cases among mostly unvaccinated Americans</a>.Among Americans who said in a recent survey that they will "definitely not" get a COVID-19 vaccine, only 20% said they trust <keyword id="12032015" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pharmaceutical-companies" source="Orion">pharmaceutical companies</keyword> to provide reliable information, according to Ashley Kirzinger, the associate director of public opinion and survey research at the Kaiser Family Foundation.Pharmaceutical companies large and small are responsible for advancements in medical treatments that have helped cure diseases, relieve chronic pain, and save lives. Several developed COVID-19 vaccines that are highly effective at preventing severe disease. But publicized claims of mismanagement and greed among some of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, collectively known as Big Pharma, have eroded public trust and, in turn, have contributed to vaccine hesitancy among some Americans, experts told Insider."In the '50s, after World War II, the drug industry was highly respected; they saved hundreds of thousands of lives," Gerald Posner, investigative journalist and the author of "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Pharma-Greed-Lies-Poisoning-America/dp/1501151894">Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America</a>," said in an interview. "They lost that over decades of greed and mismanagement."Now, as some pharmaceutical companies lobby to keep their COVID-19 vaccine formulas out of the hands of manufacturers in low-income countries (thereby<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/business/moderna-covid-vaccine.html"> maximizing profits</a> from the life-saving shot), some Americans may develop a renewed distrust of Big Pharma, Posner said."[Pharmaceutical companies] are behaving as if they have absolutely no responsibility beyond maximizing the return on investment," Tom Frieden, infectious disease expert and a former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/09/business/moderna-covid-vaccine.html"> The New York Times</a>.<h2>Skepticism of Big Pharma has been decades in the making</h2>American trust in Big Pharma reached a peak in the early-to-mid 20th century, when the pharmaceutical industry ushered in life-saving treatments like penicillin and vaccines, as Patrick Radden Keefe reports in his book "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?asin=0385545681&amp;originalTag=hyprod-20&amp;platform=browser&amp;postSource=bi%7C61488a9e5c26f40df95a0fcd&amp;postTag=biauto-50038-20&amp;sc=false&amp;type=AMAZON-AFFILIATE-LINK&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2F0385545681%3Ftag%3Dbiauto-50038-20&amp;sessionid=1632335647231&amp;tag=bisafetynet2-20632335647231&amp;tag=bisafetynet2-20">Empire of Pain</a>."Public trust started to erode, however, with the invention and widespread adoption of addictive drugs, Keefe reported. <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/266060/big-pharma-sinks-bottom-industry-rankings.aspx">Gallup</a>, whose polling has placed pharmaceutical companies as America's least liked industry for the past two decades, attributes the public's dislike to the companies' high drug prices, tremendous lobbying budgets, and their roles in the opioid epidemic.Over the last 50 years, lawsuits began piling up against pharmaceutical companies, including those that developed COVID-19 vaccines. In 2013, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-jnj-settlement/johnson-johnson-to-pay-2-2-billion-to-end-u-s-drug-probes-idUSBRE9A30MM20131104">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a> settled a federal investigation involving marketing fraud of several drugs, including one to treat dementia patients. Reuters reported in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/">2018 that small amounts of asbestos were found in the company's baby powder</a> between the early 1970s and the early 2000s. The report claimed that the company failed to disclose that information, which Johnson &amp; Johnson has repeatedly denied. The company is facing thousands of lawsuits <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/johnson-johnson-baby-powder-asbestos-cancer-lawsuit-marketing-black-women-2021-7">alleging that the talc-based products caused cancer and mesothelioma</a>.Last year, 46 US states sued 26 drug makers, including <keyword id="11897118" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pfizer" source="Orion">Pfizer</keyword>, over allegations of<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drugs-antitrust-lawsuit/u-s-states-accuse-26-drugmakers-of-generic-drug-price-fixing-in-sweeping-lawsuit-idUSKBN23H2TR"> conspiring to drive up drug prices</a>. (Pfizer told Reuters the company did not behave in unlawful conduct.)In 2009, Pfizer, which produced the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, paid the<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-largest-health-care-fraud-settlement-its-history"> second-largest healthcare fraud settlement</a> in US history to settle accusations of misleading advertising of an anti-inflammatory drug. When asked to comment on this article, a Pfizer spokesperson told Insider the company "cannot speculate why some remain vaccine hesitant, but vaccination remains one of the best tools we have to help protect lives and work to achieve herd immunity."The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/health/anti-vaccination-movement-us.html">anti-vaccine movement in the US</a>, which gained momentum in the early 2000s, has tried to use drug industry scandals to discourage parents from inoculating their children, according to Dr. Stewart Lyman, the owner of Lyman Biopharma Consulting LLC and a vaccine advocate.In the mid-2010s,<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6406a5.htm"> measles in children began resurfacing</a> despite<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/elimination.html"> the CDC having declared measles as eliminated from the US</a> in 2000. Some anti-vaccine believers<a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/01/30/38456376/vaccine-skeptics-fight-washington-bill-to-end-personal-exemptions"> fought for personal exemptions</a> for vaccine mandates during local measles outbreaks. Others within the movement said not to trust the pharmaceutical company Merck with vaccines because of<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-vaccine/merck-accused-of-stonewalling-in-mumps-vaccine-antitrust-lawsuit-idUSL1N0YQ0W820150604"> a whistleblower complaint</a> claiming that the company overstated the effectiveness of the shot. (Merck did not respond to Insider's request for comment.)<div type="image" title="pharma protest insulin" height="2066" width="2755" msid="87241136" hostid="261"></div><h2>Big Pharma's business model drives mistrust among vaccine skeptics</h2>Kirzinger told Insider anecdotal data from Kaiser suggests some Americans are hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccine due to how pharmaceutical industries profit from shots, despite the shots being rigorously tested by scientists before given to the public and built on<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/10/the-story-of-mrna-how-a-once-dismissed-idea-became-a-leading-technology-in-the-covid-vaccine-race/"> decades of research</a>. Vaccine makers have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-vaccine-sales-revenue-profits-3-point-5-billion-2021-5">made billions in revenue</a> by selling the shots to countries, and soaring pharmaceutical stocks have minted a class of "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vaccine-billionaires-moderna-biontech-pharma-stocks-vaccine-report-2021-5">vaccine billionaires</a>.""[Some vaccine hesitant Americans] are talking about distrust of Pharma because they think that they're mostly concerned about profits rather than safety," Kirzinger said.The price of the life-saving hormone insulin, for example, has skyrocketed in the last decade, costing<a href="https://www.insider.com/what-is-diabetes"> diabetes</a> patients around<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insulin-price-increased-last-decade-chart-2019-9"> $300 for a 10-millimeter vial</a>, up from about $93 in 2009. Many low-income Americans have resorted to<a href="https://mobile.businessinsider.com/josh-wilkerson-died-after-taking-over-the-counter-insulin-2019-8"> rationing insulin</a> to make it last longer, and lawmakers are<a href="https://africa.businessinsider.com/outrage-over-the-cost-of-the-life-saving-drug-insulin-has-drugmakers-scrambling-but/84epmw4"> pressuring drug companies</a> to reduce costs.Still, pharma companies are currently<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/01/big-pharma-launches-campaign-against-biden-over-covid-vaccine-patent-waiver.html"> lobbying President Joe Biden</a> to prevent him from waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines - thereby keeping manufacturers in poor countries from making life-saving shots for vulnerable populations.And while some vaccine makers like Johnson &amp; Johnson have sold COVID-19 vaccines at cost, others, including Pfizer and Moderna, have sold them for a profit.

Some Americans were primed for vaccine skepticism after decades of mistrust in Big Pharma

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="47008" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Eli-Lilly">Eli Lilly</keyword> chief financial officer Josh Smiley resigned Tuesday following a misconduct investigation.</li><li>"Upon hearing these allegations, we took swift and significant action," a spokesperson told Insider.</li><li>Smiley sent "consensual though inappropriate" messages to employees, the investigation found.</li></ul>Eli Lilly's chief financial officer resigned Tuesday following a misconduct investigation.The pharmaceutical giant said CFO Josh Smiley will step down after an independent counsel revealed "consensual though inappropriate" personal messages between the executive and employees. "The investigation revealed consensual though inappropriate personal communications between Mr. Smiley and certain Lilly employees and behavior that Lilly leadership concluded exhibited poor judgment," a spokesperson said in a statement to Insider. "Our of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved, we are not disclosing any additional details other than to say that immediately upon hearing these allegations, we took swift and significant action."Anat Ashkenazi, former chief financial officer of Lilly Research Laboratories, will replace Smiley as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Smiley will assist in Ashkenazi's transition, the company said. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-northwell-health-is-striking-deals-big-employers-whole-foods-2021-2?r=aa-sub">New York's largest hospital system is bypassing health insurers to work directly with big companies like Amazon's grocery chain - and it could reshape the way workers get healthcare</a>Eli Lilly recorded <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/eli-lilly-stock-price-alzheimers-drug-trial-results-positive-lly-2021-1-1029956936">record-high shares</a> in January after announcing the firm's experimental Alzheimer's drug slowed the rate of decline in trial patients. The drug, known as donanemab, could become the first Alzheimer's drug to show positive results in a phase 2 trial, per <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/11/health/alzheimers-amyloid-lilly.html">the New York Times</a>.The pharmaceutical firm will release the full results of the 272-patient, two-year trial in a future meeting and submit the research for publication in a peer-reviewed clinical journal.The Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eli-lilly-covid-antibody-treatment-authorized-emergency-use-trump-coronavirus-2020-10">authorized</a> Eli Lilly's COVID-19 antibody therapy for emergency use late last year. The drug maker agreed to supply the US with 300,000 vials of the treatment for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eli-lilly-covid-antibody-treatment-covid19-therapy-bamlanivimab-fda-approval-2020-10">$375 million</a>.The company recently announced the antibody could not only help treat COVID-19 patients, but prevent infections in a study of 1,097 nursing home residents. But CEO Dave Ricks recently warned the coronavirus variant found in South Africa could "evade" Eli Lilly's antibody treatment."The South African variant...is the one of concern. It has more dramatic mutations to that spike protein, which is the target" of these antibody drugs, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/12/covid-variant-found-in-south-africa-could-evade-eli-lillys-antibody-drug-ceo.html">Ricks told CNBC</a>. "Theoretically, it could evade our medicines."

Eli Lilly's chief financial officer resigned after a misconduct investigation revealed he sent 'consensual though inappropriate' personal messages to employees

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6409874" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="astrazeneca">AstraZeneca</keyword> on Saturday said it would acquire <keyword id="2186479" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alexion">Alexion</keyword> Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion.</li><li>"Alexion has established itself as a leader in complement biology, bringing life-changing benefits to patients with rare diseases. This acquisition allows us to enhance our presence in immunology," said Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, in <a href="https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/astrazeneca-to-acquire-alexion.html">a joint press statement</a>. </li><li>AstraZeneca said it had offered shareholders cash and stock worth about $175 per share, an about 45% premium from Friday's close at $120.98 per share. </li></ul>AstraZeneca on Saturday announced it was acquiring Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion, a deal aimed at boosting AstraZeneca's immunology and rare-disease research, combining the companies' worldwide delivery pipelines, and establishing a new research headquarters in Boston. "Alexion has established itself as a leader in complement biology, bringing life-changing benefits to patients with rare diseases. This acquisition allows us to enhance our presence in immunology," said Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, in <a href="https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/astrazeneca-to-acquire-alexion.html">a joint statement</a>. The UK drugmaker offered Alexion shareholders a total of about $175 per share, a 46% premium over $120.98, where Alexion's American depositary shares closed Friday's session. Shareholders will receive $60 cash and 2.1243 AstraZeneca US shares, under the proposed deal, which will require US regulatory sign-off. Both boards unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. Alexion shareholders will hold about 15% of the combined company. Two members of Alexion's board will make the move to AstraZeneca's board."We bring to AstraZeneca a strong portfolio, innovative rare disease pipeline, a talented global workforce and strong manufacturing capabilities in biologics," said Ludwig Hantson, chief executive of Alexion.AzstraZeneca on Saturday laid out a roadmap for the merger, saying the combined company will "drive future medicine innovation" in immunology, biologics, genomics, and olgonucleotides.Alexion's current management is expected to lead the company's rare-disease unit, and each Alexion employee can continue on at their current pay for a minimum of 12 months, according to Saturday's release. The joint roadmap also included a push into emerging markets, along with the establishment of a new research headquarters in Boston, a city with a cluster of research institutions and hospitals, where Alexion is based."AstraZeneca intends to build on its geographical footprint and extensive emerging markets presence to accelerate the worldwide expansion of Alexion's portfolio," the companies said. AstraZeneca said it expects about $650 million in new costs during the three-year integration period, followed by about $500 million per year of savings. If Alexion axes the deal, it'd be liable for a $1.2 billion payment to AstraZeneca, while the reverse would cost AstraZeneca $1.4 billion.In partnership with the University of Oxford, AstraZeneca has this year developed a COVID-19 vaccine, which is now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-astrazeneca-oxford-covid-vaccine-combined-trial-covid-19-coronavirus-2020-12">being tested</a> by UK government regulators.When the company announced in November that its vaccine had succeeded in trials, some were quick to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astrazenecas-covid-19-vaccine-trials-criticised-2020-11">raise questions</a> about the data that had been released. It had said the vaccine was 70% effective, but offered data <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astrazeneca-oxford-coronavirus-vaccine-news-problems-questions-data-2020-11?r=kd-sub">stitched together from multiple trials</a>, worrying some outside researchers.

AstraZeneca is acquiring Alexion Pharmaceuticals in a $39 billion pharmaceutical deal

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Law enforcement agencies should be prepared for organized <keyword id="39494" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Crime">crime</keyword> networks to try to steal <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> <keyword id="79555" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Vaccines">vaccines</keyword>, Interpol said in a statement Wednesday. </li><li>The organization warned that criminal groups will likely attempt to infiltrate supply chains and sell fraudulent vaccines. </li><li>The pandemic has "already triggered unprecedented opportunistic and predatory criminal behaviour," according to Interpol. </li></ul>Multiple COVID-19 vaccines from firms including <keyword id="44612" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Pfizer">Pfizer</keyword> and <keyword id="4912868" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="moderna">Moderna</keyword> have proven highly effective and are set to be distributed in massive quantities over the coming months once approved by regulators. But, as if obtaining, storing, and distributing millions of doses wasn't challenging enough, countries around the world will likely need to overcome yet another hurdle: organized crime.Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, issued a <a href="https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2020/INTERPOL-warns-of-organized-crime-threat-to-COVID-19-vaccines">statement</a> Wednesday to law enforcement agencies in its 194 member countries alerting them of the threat that organized crime networks pose to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.As countries roll out vaccines, organized crime networks will likely attempt to penetrate supply chains and steal doses, the group warned, adding that law enforcement should be on the lookout for people passing off fake vaccines online. "Criminal networks will also be targeting unsuspecting members of the public via fake websites and false cures, which could pose a significant risk to their health, even their lives," said Jürgen Stock, Interpol's secretary-general. "It is essential that law enforcement is as prepared as possible for what will be an onslaught of all types of criminal activity linked to the COVID-19 vaccine, which is why Interpol has issued this global warning,"According to the group, the pandemic has "already triggered unprecedented opportunistic and predatory criminal behavior." Interpol also said that, as global travel slowly returns, criminal entities will likely ramp up production and distribution of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/global-black-market-for-negative-covid-test-results-2020-11">fraudulent COVID-19 testing kits</a>.The alert comes as public health officials around the globe evaluate multiple COVID-19 vaccines that recently completed trials and appear to be safe and effective. On Wednesday, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-and-biontech-covid-19-vaccines-approved-by-uk-regulator-2020-11">UK authorized Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine</a> for emergency use, and other countries are expected to follow suit. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-pharmacies-hospitals-could-profit-from-covid-19-vaccine-2020-11?r=tl-sub">Pharmacies, doctor's offices and hospitals are gearing up to give coronavirus vaccines to millions of Americans. Here's how they're preparing and how much they stand to profit along the way.</a>Over the last several months, there have been instances of groups and indviduals attempting to illegally profit off of the pandemic by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3m-n95-mask-maker-accuses-amazon-seller-of-20x-markup-2020-6">selling personal protective equipment at inflated prices</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-man-buys-lamborghini-charged-coronavirus-covid-ppp-funds-huracan-2020-7">taking advantage of the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program</a>, and other schemes. As <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> of multiple promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates broke in November, Interpol released an initial <a href="https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2020/COVID-19-crime-INTERPOL-issues-new-guidelines-for-law-enforcement">statement</a> warning law enforcement agencies of the likelihood that organized crime would target storage facilities and supply chains, likening the forthcoming vaccines to "liquid gold to organized crime networks."But, according to the agency, one of the main threats posed by organized crime during the pandemic has been to people's data and devices.In Wednesday's memo, Interpol noted an increasing volume of COVID-19-related scams, and recommended that people be extra careful when shopping for medicines or medical equipment online. Of 3,000 online pharmacies the group suspected of selling illicit devices and products, more than half also contained cyber threats.

Interpol warns that organized crime groups will likely try to steal 'liquid gold' COVID vaccines as well as peddle fake doses

<ul class="summary-list"><li>As reforms make their way through Congress, <keyword id="12174676" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="big-pharma" source="Orion">Big Pharma</keyword>'s ad campaigns are in full swing.</li><li>The ads are full of misleading claims designed to frighten patients and thwart reforms that would lower drug prices.</li><li>Don't listen to their propaganda. These are the reasons their claims are false. </li><li>David Mitchell is a cancer patient and founder of Patients For Affordable <keyword id="11915064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="drugs" source="Orion">Drugs</keyword>, the only national, bipartisan patient organization focused solely on policies to lower drug prices.</li></ul>Big Pharma may not have found a cure for my cancer, but it has perfected the <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">science</keyword> of twisting facts that it doesn't like to scare patients like me into believing that lowering drug prices will bring us great harm. This propaganda campaign is in full swing right now in the fight over reforms making their way through Congress.The pharmaceutical industry and its operatives are bankrolling more than<a href="https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/2021/09/29/america-s-fierce-fight-over-drug-prices-takes-center-stage-congress"> $23.7 million</a> in ad campaigns opposing direct <keyword id="11896864" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="medicare" source="Orion">Medicare</keyword> negotiation and repeal of the so-called "non-interference clause." These ads are from<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/76bbea76-07d8-49eb-8020-d53c1ed2f343/"> PhRMA</a> itself,<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/d0af716e-764c-4d52-9b50-d42f05131be4/"> Medicare Today</a>, the<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/de7e4506-27e6-4623-998c-0d78a9a68c2b/"> Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association</a>, the<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/f676f780-d111-45d4-9ffc-2e5751788e85/"> American Conservative Union</a>, and other industry-allied groups. The ads are full of demonstrably misleading claims designed to frighten patients and thwart reforms.It's time to set the record straight: Lower drug prices are good for Americans.<h2>Here's why Pharma's claims are false</h2>The pharma industry says some members of Congress<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/10/phrmas-misleading-description-medicare-drug-price-legislation/"> want to</a> "repeal a protection in Medicare that protects access to medicines." These ads are referencing the "non-interference clause" in Medicare Part D, which has nothing to do with determining which drugs patients can access under Medicare. The<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1395w-111"> non-interference clause</a> states that the secretary of Health and Human Services "may not interfere with the negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and prescription drug plan sponsors." It was inserted into the Medicare Modernization Act after<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/medicare-drug-planners-now-lobbyists-with-billions-at-stake-1020"> intense</a> lobbying by the pharma industry and its allies to ensure drug corporations could dictate prices on brand-name drugs.Big Pharma says Medicare negotiation proposals would enable government bureaucrats to "<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/4969159">limit which drugs</a> patients have access to." But there are no congressional proposals that suggest implementing a government-imposed list to limit drug availability, or seek to change the<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/fact-sheet/an-overview-of-the-medicare-part-d-prescription-drug-benefit/"> long-standing policy</a> under Medicare to cover drugs for all conditions, with at least two medications in each drug class. Drug price negotiation bills simply aim to achieve affordable prices for taxpayers and patients.Pharma says negotiation would reduce access and "<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/76bbea76-07d8-49eb-8020-d53c1ed2f343/">make it harder</a> for people on Medicare to get the medications [they] need." The biggest barrier to patient access is high prices. Right now,<a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/poll-finding/kff-health-tracking-poll-february-2019-prescription-drugs/"> 1 in 3 adults</a> do not take medication as prescribed due to cost. Without reform, more than<a href="https://www.westhealth.org/press-release/study-predicts-1-million-deaths-due-to-high-cost-prescription-drugs/"> 1.1 million</a> Medicare patients could die over the next decade because they cannot afford to pay for their prescription medications. The Congressional Budget Office says lower drug prices achieved by negotiation would<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-10/hr3ltr.pdf"> increase access</a> and improve health - resulting in less money spent on medical visits and hospitalizations.Pharma says Medicare negotiation will "<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/de7e4506-27e6-4623-998c-0d78a9a68c2b/">stifle innovation</a> and discovery of new medicines." Rather, reforms like Medicare negotiation would reward clinically meaningful drugs with prices that stimulate<a href="https://patientsforaffordabledrugs.org/2021/02/03/innovation-report/"> innovation</a> - not thwart it. As long as drug companies retain their current power to block competition and raise prices at will on old drugs to drive profits and trigger executive bonuses, they have far less incentive to take risk and invest in research and development to find innovative new drugs that could command high prices and save lives. If Medicare makes clear it wants to pay the best prices for the best drugs, negotiation will stimulate innovation as companies pursue those prices.Pharma also says Medicare negotiation would import<a href="https://rareaccessactionproject.org/rare-disease-drug-market-may-be-devastated-by-current-proposed-changes-to-medicare-part-d/"> "European-style price controls."</a> Negotiation is a core tenet of a free market, not "European-style price controls." The government<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/08/12/remarks-by-president-biden-on-how-his-build-back-better-agenda-will-lower-prescription-drug-prices/"> negotiates</a> for everything it buys, from aircraft carriers to copy paper. The federal government negotiates physician, hospital, lab, and durable medical equipment prices. The pharmaceutical industry is the only <keyword id="11897506" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="healthcare" source="Orion">healthcare</keyword> sector exempt from negotiation with Medicare. The proposal for negotiation would simply end special treatment for drug makers.The pharma industry says policy proposals like<a href="https://www.speaker.gov/LowerDrugCosts"> HR 3</a> would "<a href="https://host2.adimpact.com/admo/viewer/de7e4506-27e6-4623-998c-0d78a9a68c2b/">cost America thousands of jobs</a>." But the fact is, large, brand-name drug corporations could lose<a href="https://www.westhealth.org/press-release/new-analysis-finds-large-drug-makers-could-lose-1-trillion-in-sales-and-still-be-the-most-profitable-industry/"> $1 trillion</a> in sales over a decade and still be the most profitable industry in the nation. Given that the Congressional Budget Office<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2019-10/hr3ltr.pdf"> found</a> that even this sizable reduction in revenue would reduce the number of drugs coming to market by only 2-5% over a decade, drug corporations' claims of widespread job loss are far-fetched.Moreover, legislation that increases government spending on research and development through the National Institutes of Health can help to fuel more drug development and job opportunities in the private sector. It's notable that Medicare negotiation is<a href="https://aflcio.org/about/advocacy/legislative-alerts/letter-supporting-legislation-would-lower-drug-prices"> supported</a> by the nation's premier worker organization, the AFL-CIO.If Big Pharma spent more time working on innovative new drugs and less time protecting its power to dictate high prices, we'd get more of what we seek: innovation we need at prices we can afford.

Big Pharma is twisting facts to try and convince you that a new plan to lower drug prices would actually be bad. Don't fall for it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>GSK rose 6% on Thursday after Elliott Management took a multibillion-pound stake in the company.</li><li>The "significant" investment was confirmed by exclusive sources to the Financial Times.</li><li>Elliott enters the picture amid GSK's struggle rebuild itself after a falling behind in the COVID-19 vaccine race. </li></ul>Shares of <keyword id="78710" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="GlaxoSmithKline">GlaxoSmithKline</keyword> rose 6% on Thursday after reports of hedge fund Elliott Management taking a multi-billion pound stake at the British pharmaceutical firm.GSK rose to a high of $38.24, its highest price since January 28. It was last at $38.04 around 10:22 a.m. ET, up around 5.3%.The "significant" investment was confirmed by exclusive sources to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c1d64eff-7cfb-4f73-9a48-45857640f9a9">Financial Times</a> Thursday.Elliott, the $42 billion hedge fund known for its activist campaigns, enters the picture at a time when GSK is struggling to overcome a bruised reputation. The pharmaceutical company has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gsk-vaccine-research-covid-departures-uncertain-future-2021-4">failed to keep up in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker-top-covid-shots-to-watch-in-2021">losing out to rivals with far less experience.</a>To date, GSK's vaccine unit has yet to develop a coronavirus shot, according to an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gsk-vaccine-research-covid-departures-uncertain-future-2021-4">Insider exclusive</a>, despite helping the world address the crises of H1N1 and Ebola viruses years back. At least three dozen employees have departed from one of its key centers since the pandemic began, Insider found.Elliot's investment also comes after the GSK CEO Dame <a href="https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/about-us/corporate-executive-team/emma-walmsley/">Emma Walmsley</a> decided to narrow the company's research focus to immunology by combining the pharmaceutical and vaccine units. Walmsley, who lacks an extensive scientific background, took the helm from Andrew Witty in 2017.Elliott has launched dozens of activist campaigns at companies across the world, especially in the health sector. It was founded by billionaire Paul Singer in 1977.

GSK climbs 6% on report of Elliot Management's multibillion stake

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="2186479" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Alexion">Alexion</keyword> Pharmaceuticals soared 35% in pre-market trading after the announcement of its $39 billion acquisition by <keyword id="6409874" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="astrazeneca">AstraZeneca</keyword>.</li><li>The deal has clear gains for both sides, but AstraZeneca's shares slid 6% after news of the UK firm's biggest purchase ever.</li><li>"If you don't have cash, don't buy a large company unless it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and has strong strategic merits," a portfolio manager said.</li></ul><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/alxn-stock">Alexion Pharmaceuticals</a> soared 35% in pre-market trading on Monday after <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astrazeneca-to-acquire-alexion-in-39-billion-pharmaceutical-deal-2020-12">AstraZeneca announced a $39 billion acquisition</a> of the Boston-based drugmaker.The deal was approved by both boards unanimously and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. Alexion shareholders will own about 15% of the combined company. Two members from Alexion's board move to AstraZeneca's board.Alexion's shares were trading at $163 per share in pre-market trading, up from $120.98 at Friday's close.The acquisition would combine rare-disease specialist Alexion's strengths with the European drugmaker. AstraZeneca has been in the spotlight recently for its development of a coronavirus vaccine candidate with Oxford University. But the vaccine will be unable to contribute to long-term sales, prompting the need for a broader strategy.Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-2021-best-growth-value-investing-jpmorgan-2020-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JPMorgan unveils its 50 'most compelling' stock picks to buy for 2021 - and details why each one will be a top performer</a>AstraZeneca, which slumped 6% on Monday, expects the acquisition to increase earnings per share by at least 10% over the next three years. Some investors have questioned its planned strategy behind the sizeable acquisition."If you don't have cash, don't buy a large company unless it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and has strong strategic merits," Markus Manns at Union Investment told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-14/astrazeneca-shares-slump-after-39-billion-deal-to-buy-alexion">Bloomberg</a>. "You can hardly call this deal a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the strategic merits are weak."Read More: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-cheap-high-quality-lgbt-inclusive-credit-suisse-2020-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Buy these 28 discounted stocks from an LGBT-inclusive index that's crushed its global benchmark since 2010, says Credit Suisse</a>

Alexion Pharmaceuticals soars 35% after AstraZeneca agrees to $39 billion takeover

<ul><li><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/bhc-stock">Bausch Health</a> announced on Thursday that it plans to spin off its eye-care business. </li><li>Shares of the company skyrocketed as much as 27% in premarket trading Thursday. </li><li>The spinoff will result in two companies — the eye care business, and a "diversified <keyword id="24214" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="pharmaceutical-company">pharmaceutical company</keyword> with leading positions in gastroenterology, aesthetics/ dermatology, neurology, and international pharmaceuticals," the company said. </li><li><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/bhc-stock">Watch Bausch Health trade live on Markets Insider. </a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/">Read more on Business Insider. </a></li></ul>Shares of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/bhc-stock">Bausch Health</a> skyrocketed as much as 27% in premarket trading Thursday after the company announced its intention to spin off its eye-care business. The pharmaceutical company plans to separate its Bausch + Lomb brand and portfolio of eye products into an independent and publicly traded company, <a href="https://ir.bauschhealth.com/tools/viewpdf.aspx?page={4DB3CC92-5070-4057-8C93-0FBC8C51D1D3}">it said in a press release Thursday. </a>"We are committed to taking action to unlock what we see as unrecognized value in <keyword id="8079687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bausch-health">Bausch Health</keyword> shares, and we believe that separating our business into two highly focused, stand-alone companies is the way to accomplish that goal," said Joseph Papa, CEO of Bausch Health, <a href="https://ir.bauschhealth.com/tools/viewpdf.aspx?page={4DB3CC92-5070-4057-8C93-0FBC8C51D1D3}">in a statement. </a>The spinoff will result in two companies — the eye care business, and a "diversified pharmaceutical company with leading positions in gastroenterology, aesthetics/ dermatology, neurology, and international pharmaceuticals," the company said. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/global-stock-picks-tips-from-top-fund-manager-tom-marsico-2020-8">Tom Marsico's global stock fund has trounced its benchmark for 13 years — and returned 28 times its peers in 2020. Here's what he's been buying, and the beaten-down stocks he plans to grab after the pandemic.</a>The eye-care unit had $3.7 billion in revenue last year, where the rest of the company brought in about $4.9 billion, the company said. The spinoff will return the eye-care business to an independent company, which it was before Valeant Pharmaceuticals International <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324659404578503151023147138">bought Bausch + Lomb in 2013 for $8.7 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.</a> The company dropped the Valeant name in recent years to distance itself from previous controversy, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/bausch-health-to-spin-off-eye-care-business-11596709809">according to The Journal</a>.It has also been attempting for several years to dig itself out of roughly $30 billion in debt. Bausch remains about $24 billion in debt, according to The Journal. Bausch Health has shed about <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/bhc-stock">37% year-to-date through Wednesday's close</a>.<div type="image" title="Screen Shot 2020 08 06 at 8.14.27 AM" height="1152" width="1560" msid="77394590" hostid="261"></div>

You Searched For "pharmaceuitcals" and got 10 results

I used Mark Cuban's new pharmacy company to order my medicine, and the prescription was a little cheaper. Here's how it worked.

Allana Akhtar

Pfizer should have helped low-income countries better distribute COVID-19 vaccines, CEO said

Allana Akhtar

Some Americans were primed for vaccine skepticism after decades of mistrust in Big Pharma

Allana Akhtar

Eli Lilly's chief financial officer resigned after a misconduct investigation revealed he sent 'consensual though inappropriate' personal messages to employees

Allana Akhtar

AstraZeneca is acquiring Alexion Pharmaceuticals in a $39 billion pharmaceutical deal

Kevin Shalvey

Interpol warns that organized crime groups will likely try to steal 'liquid gold' COVID vaccines as well as peddle fake doses

Tim Levin

Big Pharma is twisting facts to try and convince you that a new plan to lower drug prices would actually be bad. Don't fall for it.

David Mitchell

GSK climbs 6% on report of Elliot Management's multibillion stake

Isabelle Lee

Alexion Pharmaceuticals soars 35% after AstraZeneca agrees to $39 billion takeover

Shalini Nagarajan

Bausch Health skyrockets 27% after saying it will spin off its eye-care business

Carmen Reinicke