Justice won’t challenge Most Favored Nation injunction

The U.S. Department of Justice decided not to challenge a U.S. District Court’s injunction blocking the implementation of the “Most Favored Nation” prescription drug reimbursement plan. Here’s what happened and how we got here.

What are we talking about? In November, President Trump announced the interim final rule to implement the Most Favored Nation drug pricing model, which would tie prices of Medicare Part B drugs to the lowest prices paid in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. (Want more background? Read our explainer by our new independent reporter J.P. Carroll.) 

BIO led a lawsuit challenging the plan, joined by the California Life Sciences Association (CLSA) and BIOCOM California.

The U.S. District Court of Northern California granted an injunction, blocking the government from implementing the rule until it proceeds with a formal notice and comment rulemaking.

So, on Friday, the Justice Department decided NOT to challenge the injunction. 

Why it matters: “The concept of foreign reference pricing misunderstands the dynamics of the U.S. market versus many foreign markets,” said BIO Vice President and Deputy General Counsel John Murphy, who spearheaded the lawsuit. “We prioritize access and innovation in the United States whereas a lot of European countries deprioritize both of those things and as a result many patients in Europe, and in Asian countries as well, have far less access to innovative medicine, which is part of the reason why their prices tend to be lower.” 

Where do we go from here? The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “could reissue the rule for comment and then finalize it upon receiving responses,” writes J.P.. “Looking ahead, it remains to be seen what the Biden administration will do about prescription drug pricing—but for now, the regulatory environment is such that biopharmaceutical manufacturers and researchers are not limited in their work by the ‘Most Favored Nation’ prescription drug pricing scheme.”

More Health Care News:

San Francisco Business Times (Opinion): In order for the biotech industry to move forward it must first look back
“Nkarta Therapeutics CEO [and BIO Vice Chair] Paul Hastings writes that restoring public trust in institutions and empirical science is key to vanquishing the pandemic.”

BIO is pleased, once again, to offer BIO One-on-One Partnering to our members and the broader industry during JPM Week. This is our first partnering event of the year during a week that sets the tone for new deals, financings, and collaborations—any one of which can be tomorrow’s miracle. 

Watch BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath’s welcome message.

So far, more than 9,600 One-on-One Partnering meetings have been scheduled—and with 4,000+ delegates from 2,355 companies representing 51 countries, this is the highest participation in BIO One-on-One Partnering during JPM Week, a testament to the importance of partnerships in our industry.

It’s not too late to join in.Register now for BIO One-on-One Partnering—it’s free for BIO members! 

The good news: carbon emissions dropped by 2.4 billion tons in 2020. The bad news: the drop came at a high cost—and it’s unsustainable, explains Fast Company. 

2.4 billion tons is a lot—“the equivalent of taking 500 million cars off of the world’s roads,” says Fast Company. 

But it’s not enough: “[W]e also need to remember that when you combine fossil emissions with land use emissions, we still will emit 40 billion metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere,” says Stanford’s Rob Jackson, Chair of the Global Carbon Project.

More importantly, it’s unsustainable: “Through worldwide stay-at-home orders, emissions are indeed decreased, but prior to the pandemic, they’ve been on a steady incline despite the Paris Agreement,” wrote BIO’s Cornelia Poku. “So, the small dip in emissions output still hardly hits the milestones that need to be met in order to lower the earth’s temperature.”

Luckily, biotech has the tools to get us where we need to go—including cleaner biofuels that can replace traditional petroleum-based fuels and renewable plant-based bioplastics that biodegrade instead of polluting the planet.    

Read:Clear, Blue Skies During the Pandemic Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be 

Listen: Gevo CEO Pat Gruber joined the I AM BIO Podcast to talk about the company’s jet fuel made with renewable plant material and genetic engineering. Visit www.bio.org/podcast or listen via Apple, Google, or Spotify.

More Agriculture and Environment News: 

Axios: Buoyed by climate politics, companies compete for cleaner fuels
“Companies have been disclosing more data on greenhouse gas emissions since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, and a new trend cropping up uses that to foster competition for greener energy.” 

President Trump’s Monday:Now permanently banned from Twitter, “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,” according to the official schedule. 

President-elect Biden’s Monday: On Friday, Biden said he would release all remaining COVID-19 vaccine doses after his inauguration, CNN reported.

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: The House could begin impeachment proceedings as soon as today, reports the AP. New York Magazine explains the timeline and why Democrats might want to continue proceedings after the inauguration.