Sanders to unveil rule requiring drug companies to set fair prices

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will unveil a new rule forcing pharmaceutical companies to set reasonable prices for drugs developed using research funded by federal research dollars, Huffington Post reported Monday.

The rule — an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act — is Sanders’s newest attempt to block pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur from receiving a license to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus with the U.S. Army.

>Sanofi Pasteur is pursuing a patent that would block other drugmakers from being able to produce and sell the vaccine at a lower price.

>The French company has received $43 million from the Department of Health and Human Services and is expecting $130 million more for future testing of the drug if current trials are successful.

>Sanders told HuffPost that federal agencies and nonprofits that receive federal funds would have to get manufacturers to sign a reasonable pricing agreement before handing over the exclusive rights to drugs or vaccines.

>“The days of allowing Sanofi and other drug makers to gouge American consumers after taking billions in taxpayer money must end,” Sanders said. “That is why I am introducing legislation to demand fairer, lower prices for the Zika vaccine and for every drug developed with government resources. This is a fight that we cannot afford to lose.”

>Sanders has attacked the French drugmaker before for its exclusive deal with the Army on the vaccine, calling for President Trump to shut down the deal in a May op-ed for The New York Times.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/344623-sanders-moves-to-force-pharmaceutical-companies-to-set-fair-drug-prices