BIO's John Crowley on China, Trump, and vaccines

Former biotech CEO John Crowley is bringing big changes to the biotech industry's largest lobbying group. He's a Republican who wants to keep the organization focused on its core mission instead of on social issues. He restructured the organization to dedicate more resources to vaccine education and women's health, since becoming BIO's CEO in March.

Crowley sat down with me and my colleague John Wilkerson for a wide-ranging conversation about his interest (or lack thereof) in serving in a Trump administration, his views on the GOP's stance on vaccines, the group's position on the BIOSECURE Act, and his strategy in implementing layoffs earlier this year.

patents

Senate's patent bill is a shell of its former self

If you're closely following health policy on Capitol Hill, you might have seen a spate of headlines last week that the Senate had unanimously (!) passed a bill related to a practice drugmakers use called "patent thicketing." But as my colleague Ed Silverman and I explain, the bill is a fraction the size it was when it was first introduced five years ago.

The bill was slashed nearly in half before it passed, as lawmakers entirely axed a provision to address a practice called "product hopping," and significantly watered down the legislation addressing thicketing. PhRMA said the group still has concerns about "Congress prohibiting innovators from enforcing lawfully granted patents," and patient advocacy groups are basically arguing that any progress on the issue is a win.

There's nobody better than Ed, who's covered the pharmaceutical industry for more than 25 years, to break down immensely complicated patent law tweaks. You're in good hands.

drug pricing

Here come the prices

Johnson & Johnson has received the final negotiated prices for the company's drugs that are subject to Medicare negotiations, executives said Wednesday on an earnings call.

The deadline for publicly announcing the highly-awaited prices for the first round of drugs is Sept. 1. Medicare officials have been negotiating with companies for much of the year. Those prices will be the first indication of how aggressively Medicare plans to bargain.

J&J's Xarelto, Imbruvica, and Stelara are subject to the first round of negotiations. Other drugmakers didn't respond to questions about whether Medicare has told them their prices yet.

"We have received the final numbers from the government," said J&J Executive Vice President Jennifer Taubert. "We're not disclosing that at this time."

agency watch

FDA shrugs at lead-contaminated applesauce

Jim Jones, the top food regulator at the FDA, essentially said there's nothing the agency could have done to prevent the recent contamination of children's applesauce with lead, my colleague Nick Florko reports.

If companies "are hell-bent about breaking the rules, they're usually going to get away with it for a little while before they're stopped," Jones said at the annual gathering of the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago on Tuesday.

Jones also gave hints at regulations to be released this fall, and acknowledged the food industry is lagging behind on setting up a food-tracking system. More on Jones' candid comments here.

insurance

Wall Street is anxious over Medicaid

Even though insurer Elevance Health beat its earnings estimates this quarter, investors were spooked over comments that Medicaid members' care is getting expensive, STAT's Tara Bannow reports.

Following state disenrollments after Covid-19 protections expired, Elevance's Medicaid members declined 23%. The company said the members who lost coverage tended to be healthier than those who remained on the program. That means Elevance's current Medicaid members have higher medical needs.

Elevance isn't alone, as UnitedHealth and Centene have warned of similar trends.

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