Pfizer CEO Fires Back On US Drug Pricing Reforms: 'Negotiation with a Gun to Your Head'

Pfizer Inc's PFE CEO Albert Bourla called U.S. plans to negotiate drug prices for its Medicare health program "negotiation with a gun to your head." 

Bristol Myers Squibb & Co's BMY Eliquis, Pfizer Inc's PFE Ibrance, and AbbVie Inc's ABBV Imbruvica are expected to be among the 10 top-selling drugs subject to U.S. price negotiations for 2026.

"It is not negotiation at all. It is price setting," Bourla said, referring to the Biden administration's drug pricing reform, part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

The law aims to save $25 billion through price negotiations by 2031. Speaking at a Reuters newsmaker event, Bourla said he expects drugmakers to sue to halt the process.

The pharmaceutical industry says the law will result in a loss of profits, and Reuters reported that the companies have started working to fight the U.S. plan.

"I think that there will be legal action," he said, adding his doubts that the plan can be stopped before new prices go into effect in 2026.

The government will launch the negotiation process in September by naming the first ten drugs it spends the most on for the year ending May 2023.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will oversee drug price talks.

Bourla acknowledged lower out-of-pocket medical costs as one of the positive aspects of the law for patients.

PFE Price Action: PFE shares are down 0.47% at $37.42 on the last check Friday.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons.